It's election time and there are many topics that are up for debate. Yet all too often I see science being thrown to the back burner in favor of taxes, immigration, etc. Now of course these are very serious topics and should be discussed but science, and I cannot stress this enough, is KEY to advancing society into a greater future. Yet every election year, I see a ton of science denial on both ends of the political spectrum. Now whether politicians are willfully ignorant or simply pandering to an audience is anyone's guess. But this cannot continue any longer. Science doesn't give a flying fuck about what your political affiliation is. And this goes for both sides.

The right wing (believe it or not) holds a few scientifically correct positions. For example right wingers tend to believe that genetically modified organisms (or GMOs) are safe for human consumption. Evidence for this backed up by science advocate Robert Sacerich, who wrote "The common thought process is that the right supports GMOs because they support big business." But it's not just only the support of large scale business; GMOs have been produced since around 10,500 B.C.E. and since then almost 2,000 studies show that GMOs are safe to eat and cause no harm to the human body.

So then why does the left vehemently despise GMOs? Sacerich answers this by saying " Let’s look at the left wing ideology and how it relates here. In the political landscape of today, the left is very much aligned with environmentalism. Concerns about the environment, especially given the realities of anthropogenic climate change, are valid and necessary in the world. The problem, I believe, is the baggage that comes with that environmental awareness." Simply put, the left wing associates anti-GMO with pro-environment, which is definitely NOT the case.

Another hot topic is vaccines and another reason why I hate far left ideology. The left notorious for being anti-vax because they fear the chemicals that are inside the vaccine may cause autism in children. The right largely consists of adults aged 50-67. During this time many infectious diesases (Polio comes to mind) that are no almost extinct due vaccination. Many right wingers were born in a time where these diseases wrecked havoc on the lives of children and wisely kept on to the knowledge that vaccination saves lives.

The left, on the other hand, are largely at the forefront of the anti-vax movement. Thanks to celebrities like Jenny McCarthy and (of all people) Erin Brokovich who promote these views, everyday joes are jumping the bandwagon with dangerous, and even deadly results. According to the World Health Organization, "Data for 2013 show nearly 22 million infants missed getting their required three doses of diphtheria and tetanus-pertussis vaccines." While a majority of these come from poorer third world countries, many of them also come from the utter refusal of parents not wanting to vaccinate their children.

Evolution is highly regarded in among the left wing. Namely because as theory it holds up to scrutiny (well legitimate scrutiny; quoting John 3:16 does not count as evidence). Yet today 4 out of 10 adults do not believe that we had evolved (and mind you, this is NOT among the religious right, where the numbers could be much higher). Thankfully science does not care about what the opinions of others. It speaks for itself. DNA tests show that humans, chimpanzees, and bonobos are more closely related to one another than either is to gorillas or any other primate. From the perspective of this powerful test of biological kinship, humans are not only related to the great apes – we are one.

That is just one piece of evidence that shows that we are not only an example of the great apes, but also that we come from a much greater primitive ancestry stretching millions of years. Despite the evidence, many right wingers do not believe that they evolved but rather that they were created by a higher power (in this case, the Judeo-Christian God). In fact, nearly two-thirds (64%) of white evangelicals say that humans and other living things have always existed in their present form, while roughly one-in-ten white evangelicals (8%) say that humans evolved through natural processes. While that's fine and dandy, science doesn't care about what you believe.

Now before I conclude this article, I wish to point out that this article means I'm saying "w believes x, whereas y believes z, and that there is no way they vary." Absolutes, in my humble opinion are highly dangerous.There are left wingers who deny evolution. There are right wingers who don't vaccinate. I am merely exposing a trend of what left and right wingers say in regards to science. But my hope is that one day science can transcend the bitter war of politics and start being a method of finding scientific truth - no matter what everyone else believes.