In my opinion the difference between then and now is that now you have a contingent of scientists that actively promote the position that you cannot simultaneously be both religious and a scientist. I understand the positive goals they are trying to achieve, but I don't think they are considering the ways it can be counterproductive to their cause. I don't think you can do anything about fundamentalist Christians, but I wonder how many people were pushed into fundamentalism because something less extreme was still treated with utter contempt.
The people you refer to would cite the ineffectualness of the moderate positions to which you appeal. Their position is based in part on the notion that the less extreme approaches have failed utterly.
