The differences between men and apes are far less significant than, say, between sea lions and deer, because men and apes live in similar environments.
As far as I'm concerned, the mechanism of evolution is irrelevant to the argument against creationism. The latter is wrong because it is not useful, the way the epicyclic explanation of planetary motion is not useful. Science works because it rigorously discards rigid, useless concepts in favor of flexible, useful ones.
I don't understand why religious people who at least pay lip service to science are incapable of asking the right question - what exactly is it about men, who are after all animals, that makes them special? What border was crossed that enabled men to become aware? It's not just a matter of being more clever. Even bees are clever.