Because they have scientist credentials and scientific positions. I'd rather call them scientists and have people recognize that scientists can be dogmatic and unscientific, and that they need to look closely and what's being espoused.
I refuse to play the game of that guy's a scientist and that one isn't. I prefer to weigh the ideas promoted as scientific or not.
And even if something is "scientific" and "logical" doesn't mean I have to accept it as truth. Especially when it's built on assumptions that may be suspect.
Okay. Do you refer to Rev. Fred Phelps as a Christian?