Why? Evolution is one of the best supported theories we have.
Should we downgrade it from theory to hypothesis because a very narrow group of religious fundamentalists demand it? Or should we keep it as a theory because that is where scientists, who study the matter, have determined it should be.
Compared to Newton's laws? Compared to our understanding of ionic and covalent bonding? Not in my book.
Should we downgrade it from theory to hypothesis because a very narrow group of religious fundamentalists demand it?
No, because it can't explain historic phenomenae as a closed system. When the evos start desperately reaching for comets and meteorites as a source of material, the theory has failed that test. When it can't explain 2.7 billion years of virtually no change followed by the precambiran explosion without major hand-waving, IMO it doesn't deserve status as a theory.
Note that I am not arguing against natural selection, which is observable. I have seen no satisfactory (to me) proof of such a sudden and spontaneous progression from the simple to the complex with virtually no change in complexity or the fundamental nature of animal systems thereafter.