During my life I have seen two main trends, or "schools of thought", if you will. One is that religion is the beginning of everything, that evolution does not exist, and so on. The other is the exact opposite: science is everything, we are the product of evolution, and religion are fairy tales. Its always one versus the other. Havent really seen anything in the middle, really.
What if there is a God / Goddess / groups of gods who created us and in order to do so they used science as the tool?
Science and God are not mutually exclusive. Comparing religion with science is like comparing apples and oranges, they are focusing on different questions. A person can be a theist and extremely knowledgeable in science. Atheism is not the same thing as science, because science can be used to support theism as well as atheism. Some people view all the wonders of this world as evidence for design (Intelligent Designer worldview), while other people view this world as coming from chance (Darwinian worldview). It is all about perception. Science is not an opposite of theism, atheism is.
Religion answers the purpose questions while science answers the mechanism questions.
Religion questions
"Why do we exist?"
"What is the meaning of life and why is it valuable?"
"Why is having absolute morality essential for humans to coexist peacefully?"
Science questions
"How are babies born?"
"What is the mechanism for how genes replicate?"
"How do lightning and thunder occur?" etc.
I remember Lawrence Krauss (famous atheist) once said, "if you were choking, would you prefer the person next to you to start praying or do the heimlich maneuver to relieve you?" The question was asked to show how religion is useless while science is extremely useful to learn. Nobody is questioning the usefulness of science, the most adamant theists are completely pro-science just as much as the most adamant atheists. View David Berlinski or Stephen Meyer for examples of knowledgeable scientists who believe in God.
Let's look at Krauss's example from two worldviews.
Atheistic worldview: If I was choking, I am happy that somebody learned the Heimlich maneuver in science class so he could help me. To me, it is evidence that science is superior to theology studies.
Theistic worldview: If I was choking, I am happy that somebody did the Heimlich maneuver on me, but I would also thank God that I happened to be choking in front of someone who knows how to do the Heimlich maneuver. On the very rare moment that I happened to be choking, God made sure to place me in front of someone who is skilled in the Heimlich maneuver, to relieve me immediately, and I see that as a great sign that God was taking care of me.
This is how the two worldviews differ in my opinion. Atheism does not have God in the picture, theism does.