Were the gloves still on then? I rather thought we were already showering the religious with the scathing contempt they deserve...

Although I suspect there are some fence-sitters who would be dissuaded by scathing contempt for religion. There are indeed people out there who place more stock by harmony, cooperation and unwillingness to rock the boat than by wit, humour and the glorious art of the clever put-down. Nevertheless, I suspect that these people are, by their very nature, too fuzzy-headed and unspecific in their actions to pose any real threat one way or the other. Even if they do have some sympathy for creationism and allied nonsenses it is unlikely they will do anything about it - they're proud of being fence-sitters, and any display of overt support for anything even slightly contentious is anathema to them.