Nice way of putting it!
Fundamentally, to insist on "science-based information" exclusively is itself an indication of a preferred "conceptual belief system." It is tantamount to saying: "I wish to exclude other belief systems, for I will brook no rivals to my own."
If macroevolution is true, then it doesn't need to be "defended" by closing it off to questions or challenges. Indeed, I was taught that this is the very means by which scientific knowledge advances.