Of course they're dishonest, because their moral anchor is mankind's wisdom.  Mankind's wisdom is inadequate.  A moral foundation has to transcend mankind and be rooted in something that's transcendent.  

“For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance, he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.”

― Robert Jastrow, God and the Astronomers