[natch]

Or the tribes are engaging in, forgive me, tribalistic behavior where they fight for the pride and power of their own group without any regard to the bigger picture. It's like they see themselves as rivals to another sports team, only with race and supposed religion. I say "supposed," because, do they really practice it?

So you could say they do have a bigger picture in mind, their religion, but you would be talking to a skeptic were you to say that. In the end, it may be their right to protect their perceived (or claimed, or claimed-perceived, each of which is different) interests... and we should protect that right to an extent. But it's sad that they are blocking science. And I think they're doing it just for the pride of letting their team win a contest which means nothing (aside from pride) to them, and a lot to astronomy.

This was all super off topic but I find it pretty interesting.