The religions stuff seeps over into abortion, birth control, gay marriage, right to die, and all the rest of the "social conservative" issues that somehow became considered "conservative" positions.
There's nothing "conservative" about the government telling citizens what medical procedures they can or cannot have. Goldwater was pro choice for that very reason.
And although I probably lost you already (
), there's nothing "conservative" about making flag burning a crime, allowing warrantless wiretaps, giving special tax treatment to favored industries, borrowing massive amounts of money to feed massive deficits, or telling jurors what they can and cannot award.
Almost everything considered a "conservative" position today is big government, big business, anti-individual.
Gun control is maybe the single exception, where the so-called conservatives side with the individual over the institutions.