You hear many accusations from those on the left that the right places religion above science. Well. Let us review what science has to say about the right.
Here is a study of the Pew Institute that declares that those on the right has a better understanding of the positions of the left than those on the left have of the positions of the right.
Here is a take on the right/left issue found at Slate.
“In his new book The Righteous Mind, psychologist Jonathan Haidt says our moral judgments are informed by six “foundational” values, including justice, loyalty and authority. Haidt’s research shows that conservatives put about equal emphasis on the six values whereas liberals don’t. The result, he explains, is that liberals just don’t get conservatives—and, in a sense, don’t get life more generally: “
Slate.com
It is a very interesting interview with the author and I think it would be worth your time to listen to the whole interview here.
Full Interview
The Griper
The Griper's World 
Pretty interesting. I happened to catch Dr. Haidt on a C-Span discussion about his book. IMO, an essential tool for scientific
analysis is, as Haidt notes, to step ‘outside the matrix’- eg. set aside
personal bias. That is more difficult in the social sciences, of course and nearly impossible in political psychology. For more on his views on the subject, see another of his lectures …heck, it’s almost like going back to campus!
i agree with you totally, BB. then the next question must be what is the key to stepping outside of the matrix while retaining our biases yet not allow those biases to effect our ideas?
and to add to this, i might say that I think that you and I do a pretty good job of it in our study of issues together. so, what motivates us?