Gay Marriage and Other Conservative Contradictions

A fellow blogger, Aaron E. Hohenbrink, with Intake Weekly's Blog Squad created a list of what could be considered "You Might be a Conservative if you Believe...". I can agree with many of the items of the list like:

• ...America is great because of free individuals, not because of government
• Free markets are more beneficial to the populous than socialism
• You have a right to protect yourself and your family with deadly force if you are so inclined

However, I am perplexed at the willful blindness of some points and the contradictions between others. This one is laughable:

• Peace through strength - The United States is by far the best country in the history of mankind at being responsible with its strength and that strength is an impetus for both freedom and peace. While war is a last resort, it is sometimes necessary, and having the strength to defeat evil can ultimately save lives.

"Responsible for its strength...an impetus for freedom..." Is he serious! This country was a tyrant from its birth. It got its start by mass murdering the Native Americans and "claiming" their land (domestic terrorism against their own people since this land was theirs too), then building upon that land with the blood and sweat of Africans and African Americans (horrible foreign and human policy, and it took them over 200 years to stop). But hey, I guess these White Men earned their wealth fair and square.

On the other hand, this fellow Blogger makes two other statements that fundamentally contradict each other. On the one hand he says:

The power of the individual is far more effective than the power of government - Individuals have the power to transform their lives, and the lives of others far better than government can do through social policy and welfare. Conservatives speak in terms of the individual while liberals lump individuals into ambiguous group terms such as "the unfortunate" or "the rich".

On the other hand he says: