Separation of Church and ,well, the Lab I Work In

I actually spent an hour this morning in the ivy leaguers office today listening to his ponderings on teaching creationism in university science classes. He wanted to know if I knew the religious beliefs of science professors I have had. I told him we never really got around to it because they WERE TO BUSY TEACHING AND NOT PUSHING THEIR BELIEFS ON ME! He wondered if in addition to the theory of evolution if I was taught the "theory" of creationism. I told him..."IN SUNDAY SCHOOL WHEN I WAS A KID!!!" I don't think he liked it when my co-worker and I pointed out that evolution is, indeed, a scientific theory while creationism was a religious belief. Most shocking was that he did not see the distinction between the two and felt that creationism could be debated as a "scientific theory." In the same sit down we discussed the local college paper and whether it was conservative or liberal. I said conservative for a college town and then he said liberal because the talk about "homosexuals." Am I wrong to be a little taken-a-back by this? Am I out of line to point out this little thing called the separation of church and state and using that as an argument against the discussion of a professors religious beliefs in a public state run university classroom? I am still floored that this banter ever had to occur. Don't get me wrong. I am down with some religious conviction. My mom is uberchristian and is one of the most wonderful people I know. She is such a good Christian that she doesn't judge me when I tell her the whole Christian/organized religion thing is not my bag. Now that is a woman who knows what it's about. My argument is that there is a time and a place for everything and I don't feel like BIO101 is the place for creationism.