the difference between me and the fundamentalists who want 'creationism' taught, is that I respect their right to believe anything they want as long as it is a private thing, but they don't seem to think that I should be able to NOT listen to their religious doctrine in a school setting.

The important thing about the theory of evolution is that is it perfectly possible to KEEP one's religious beliefs, while being aware of the overwhelming evidence that the Earth is very old and complex processes have changed species according to laws of biology and physics.

If one wishes to believe that a higher power 'planned' those processes, they are free to do so. Just don't try to substitute a theory of "direct creation" and the notion that counting Biblical generations will give you the age of the earth better than carbon dating and archeological evidence.....