Why don't religious people accept that we are animals and that evolution is real?

The question was asked at Yahoo Answers. This was my answer:

What was repeatedly brainwashed into my gullible brain was this idea -- There are people and there are animals. People are not animals. We are completely separate from the rest of nature.

When I was a brainwashed Catholic boy I knew nothing about science. I didn't even know science was a word. I didn't know these things because the ugly nuns at my Catholic school never talked about it. After 9 wasted years there (kindergarten thru 8th grade) I went to one the best public high schools in the country and incredibly I was able to graduate from that school without ever knowing there was a word called "evolution".

It was only much later after I did my own research from books, museums, nature, and the internet did I finally start learning about the amazing four billion year history of life. One of the most interesting things I learned is not only are we animals, not only did we descend from ancient apes, but we are still apes. When I realized I was an ape everything changed. I thought this has got to be the most interesting fact of science. And after thinking about it I realized that now everything made sense. Yes, of course, I'm an ape. Is that great or what?

People who believe in religion don't understand this important concept. They think they are their fairy's favorite species. Even the Christians who pretend they accept evolution still think their fairy magically inserted a magical soul (whatever that is) into human apes. They still think people are special and not just a small twig on the vast tree of life.

The problem is religion. The solution is get rid of religion. Eradicate religion from this planet.