I live in the reddest State,Oklahoma, therefore I am exposed to lots of right-wingers. Some of them call themselves conservatives because of their fundamentalist religion. Some of them call themselves conservative because they're racist uneducated and mean. I have coffee with several people three times a week. Three of them are Legacy Republicans that still support Trump because they are receiving economic benefits from his policies. Those benefits are all they care about and they will accept all his trash talk and unethical actions because there's something in it for them. They are not stupid and each of them have one or two redeeming qualities. None of them have empathy for people unlike themselves. I cringe when everyone calls Republicans stupid. Like Democrats, they have varying degrees of intelligence and personal goals that make them able to accept the Republican philosophy.
I wouldn't call them stupid but I would say they lack critical thinking skills (to them critical thinking means criticizing other peoples thinking. Like you said fundamental religions only gives one side of the story.
I would, however, all them selfish. Their take on "socialists" shows they don't give a fig for anyone outside their tribe. This is why I believe there is no heaven. A place filled with such people as these is really a hell. Imagine multiple heavens one for Catholics and some for every sect of protestants and lots one for each religion. Otherwise heaven would be one big civil war site.