Are you scared?

According to a recent scientific study, you may have less of a choice than you realized over which political party you choose: "Conservatives Scare More Easily Than Liberals, Say Scientists"

This syncs well with another study showing, "47% of Republicans don't think North America and Africa were once a part of the same continent (Pangea), another 29% aren't sure."

That ties well with this article, "Only Six Percent Of Scientists Are Republicans: Pew Poll"

And of course there's the recent poll that shows that I might not be in America right now: "North Carolina Leery About "State" of Hawaii"

So, with a little work we can begin assembling the pieces. People who are inherently more fearful of the unknown tend to cling to what they feel they know, or what brings them comfort in what they do not. They resist change. They are more conservative. They aren't interested in science, because they already know everything that is important to them, and why change that? Why challenge that? Why encourage it in our schools?

Republicans are currently whipped up into a frenzy over health care. Unfortunately they never stop to realize that without scientists, people who push the limits and test boundaries, we'd still be bleeding people and performing exorcisms and burning witches at the stake. Those pills that you just can't live without and are mortified at the thought of not having them? Yeah, they were developed by people and tenets of science (evolution, scientific method, belief that man could heal without prayer) which conservatives probably deny or abhor to some degree.

Seriously, I'm more center-of-the-road than I might sound. I'm not a fearful person, but there is one thing that scares the crap out of me, though. Ultra-conservatives. You can believe in God and science at the same time. It just takes an open mind, and some education.