Jeanie, I should have made it clear that my comments above were in response to Ikester's post. Sorry about that.

I think it's quite possible to be in awe of life and to feel a connection with it, without coming to the conclusion that it came into existence in an instant due to a god's will. That isn't what the evidence from the natural world shows. But I do feel strongly that all life, and indeed all things, in the universe are connected. Science does not understand this yet and may never do completely.

It's interesting to hear what you've reported science teachers in your school as saying. I suppose that must be par for the course in a southern state. It would be very rare for a science teacher here in the UK to say they had creationist leanings and I'm honestly glad that the phenomenon is mostly limited to the US. Most people here don't even go to church. I'm quite relieved to be away from a society which is so steeped in religion. That isn't to say people don't pursue spirituality, but they do it in their own ways. I think this has much to do with history. The US was founded by devout religious exiles, and the UK has a long hisotry of religious wars and persecution that people do not miss.