Point of order. The battle against evolution is nowhere near lost. In fact, plenty of evidence has been discovered in recent years that points away from the evolution of humans from apes. Evolution within a species to develop characteristics that will increase the odds of its survival is pretty commonly accepted. However, there is no conclusive evidence that a species can be transformed into another.
I'll agree that the Church has picked some pretty ridiculous battles in the past, but the Church's credibility hasn't been destroyed to the point that its positions always run afoul of the truth, which is what I believe you meant to imply.
Talibans wither and die.
That was totally unnecessary.
No, there is a small fundamentalist industry involved in making that claim, but no one in the real sciences now doubts the evolutionary theory. The upsurge in the fundy "research" is merely out of desperation. They were quite happy to sit on their interpretation of the Bible until well beyond the point of absurdity. Now that they have been laughed out of court, suddenly the decided to do a little "investigating" in the physical world. Too late. They come in with an outcome in mind and use selective evidence to get there. They aren't convincing anyone but themselves and fellow true believers.
Evolution was discovered -- it wasn't a religious mandate. Evolution persists because the evidence for it is overwhelming. The ONLY people who disagree do so because they are instructed to do so by their Bible. Pure and simple.