I can help explain a little better why skepticism has a bad rap
   among some: I turn to synonyms to get a 'sense' of the family of
   concepts it fits within common usage:

   hesitation
   disbelief
   apprehension
   uncertainty

   reluctance
   distrust
   suspicion
   indecision

   questioning
   faithlessness
   dubiety
   dubiousness

   leeriness
   agnosticism
   lack of confidence So even though you are using skeptic and
   skepticism as a technical term, the majority of the population,
   do not. This does not make you wrong by having fewer that could
   support your case, but it does explain its coloring and
   reputation for it is conceptually not a free and clear concept
   that stands alone. Defining a word with specificity when it is
   also used generally only convinces a few but not most. As a
   concept, it's been long ago usurped to mean other things.