Hello, Hyro, and welcome to EvC!
I think you have a pretty accurate view of the situation there. Here in Texas, even hinting that you support evolution causes a pretty large segment of the population to immediately decide you are an atheist or at best not a True Christian, and they then shut down any attempt at dialog. Entangling atheism and biology doesn't help this situation at all. I'm pretty passionate about real science education, and not particularly passionate about my (unrelated) atheism, but I do get them entangled on boards like this one. And that isn't helpful in winning over fundy minds....