Throughout history science has always be at the mercy of the ignorant fearful that their carefully nurtured world will be beyond their control. These ignorant people who unfortunately held positions of great power over centuries have been responsible for holding back and retarding the advancement of science in immeasurable number of instances. Only the bravest of the bravest scientist dared to challenge the beliefs held at various times during the past centuries and has had to endure condemnation from the ignorant.
The ignorant will always be fearful of the unknown.Fear unsettles them and challenges them to find ways to either accept new concepts or destroy them . Unfortunately the first instinct of the ignorant is to destroy anything they don't understand. That has been the way of the ignorant for centuries. Nothing has changed.
The ignorant don't want their boat rocked. It has taken them so long to learn the ropes that they can't adjust to change readily . New concepts lash at their very core of established ways like some vicious storm at sea threatening to capsize and drown their boat .Rather than abandon their ideas they will cling to them and fight all opposition just like a ship at sea fighting off the rages of a storm. So terrifying was the experience of a storm at sea to them they will take steps that it will never happen to them again. So it is with sea of ideas from scientists that threaten to rock their boat.
Politics is very much about people. Politicians are acutely aware that that they are at the mercy of the common people and play them like a well tuned fiddle. Scientists have always had to dance to the tune of the popular melodies at all times in the course of history. When scientists themselves come up with a tune of their own that grates on the ears of the ignorant and politicians ,be they one of the same or separate, it won't be listened to and demand will be made to ban it.
The ignorant will always fear the truth for it makes them fear that things are beyond their control. Scientists don't need to be at sea dancing a hornpipe to amuse onlookers. They need to be able to carry out research for the betterment of mankind free of interference.
Scientists are people as well and not some weirdos planning to take over the world . The great danger is they will lose heart in their medical research efforts from politicians catering to the opponents of stem cell research. If that happens once again the scientists will have lost out to the ignorant.
