I thought the issue was so polarized, I just didn't want to get caught.

I'm sad to see that in my own (religious) tradition. I do understand what they're responding to. There are aggressive unbelievers. There are scientists who firmly believe that you can't be a scientist and you can't do science if you are a religious person.

I think evolutionary theory is compatible with faith.

There are polemical extremes that are getting more hostile to each other.