You are laboring under the misimpression that FACT means unquestionable and THEORY means questionable. That isn't the case.
A theory is a generalized explanation that ties together numerous observations in such a way that hypotheses can be generated which could prove the theory false, if it is indeed false.
Neither facts nor theories are 'truth.'
"It isn't intelectually perverse to deny any theory, even a good theory, "
It is intellectually perverse to deny a good theory without any evidence against, while there is a staggering amount of evidence in support of it.
In science classes, we learn about the theory of atomic structure, but students in high school are not confronted for one second with the possibility that hydrogen atoms may not exist. Nor do we put notes in the beginning of textbooks that indicate that their existence should be subject to especial scrutiny.
The Germ Theory of Disease is a theory, but it, too, is a fact. (Note that theories don't graduate from theories into facts. Even after they are accepted as facts, they are STILL theories. "Theory" hasn't got anything to do with certainty.)
