Anyway, why are Creation and evolution seen as mutually exclusive processes?

There must be a lot of literal thinkers out there. They want Creation to be an event that takes place in a day, I suppose? Or 7 days? And they want science and religion to be, like East and West, the twain that shall never meet?

What foolishness. In really ancient times the scientists and the spiritual leaders were one and the same in society. It was a single discipline...the search for truth, by any and all means possible.