“The only difference is that its believers never found a way to tie it to political policies that aim to destroy civilization and, oh by the way, massively redistribute wealth.”
Yes they have: Communism and Nazism.
True. Please note, however, that Communists and Nazis also adopted mathematics, physics and chemistry. Does this invalidate these sciences?
The discussion regarding evolution is not abstract. Evolutionary biology has practical impact, and if we don't want to live like the Amish (perhaps we should...), then we need to separate the science from the ideology and from the fact, that science from time to time is hijacked by evil ideologies.
I stand corrected!