The so-called “March for Science” happened in assorted nodes around the country today, while many of us were actually doing science instead of just talking and protesting about it. Yes, some scientists spend night shifts and weekends issuing severe-weather forecasts and doing prolific research into storms in slower-weather times, all for the goal of directly and tangibly serving the American taxpayer — including those attending assorted rallies and protests. You’re welcome.

I’m grateful and proud to be serving America this way, directly putting science to use for the public good on a daily basis, and thankful to be able to contribute scientifically and professionally to a system that unquestionably saves lives. As evident in the new bipartisan weather bill, which Trump signed into law and which Obama would have, it’s clear and heartening that even a deeply divided society and its legislative representatives can bridge the partisan chasm to come together for such a directly public-benefiting and worthy scientific cause. That’s what science should be about, above all else: serving others.

Obviously…it should go without saying, by virtue of being a published, public-facing scientist, I care about science and public service. Understand that above all else, as you read on.

As someone who is:
* A socially and politically conservative Christian who
* Partly for Biblical moral reasons, did not vote for either Hillary or Trump — the latter candidate whose victory obviously inspired this “March” (thereby guaranteeing its politicization) — and who is
* A scientist with multiple formal publications who works 8+ hours a day to apply my science directly to life-saving public safety,
I find assorted concerns about the politicization and left-wing bent of the March not only valid but resoundingly so. Please read these concerns from someone on the sociopolitical left who agrees with me that science has little to do with the March.

I also find the so-called “March for Science” to be not only unwelcoming, but outright hostile, to the minority of conservative+religious scientists. That is my perception, with abundant basis in the statements of March organizers and members. This event had potential, but failed to reach it as it should have, whether by not maintaining strict political neutrality and by not overtly welcoming the very minorities upon which it spits — and by minorities in this context, I mean conservative Christians. That includes the conservative Christians in science — and yes, we do exist. Why would that be? Amazing thing to learn, isn’t it?

The so-called “March for Science” instead looks self-serving, overtly politicized, clearly reactionary bastion of left-wing insularity. If it were about science, and only science, there wouldn’t be all this PC social-engineering blather about supposed “homophobia” and “ableism” and “marginalized communities”, and other bogus terminology representing manufactured artifices of the secular left’s cult of mass-victimhood. Instead it would remain neutral on social issues, stick strictly to support for and encouragement of science, and leave the sociopolitical statements out of the picture.

For all this talk about catering to “marginalized communities”, it’s more than a little hypocritical to marginalize a community within science, isn’t it? One thing is clear: This “March for Science” absolutely does not speak for all scientists!

To my left-leaning readers I make one request: instead of arguing with my perception (which is my reality), understand it. Practice the “empathy” and “tolerance” and “inclusion” you so often preach. Are you up to that challenge?