So there isn’t even a theoretical distinction between them.
You were making perfect sense right up to this sentence (I suspect that’s because you were just rephrasing something I’ve already said). That sentence, though, has sadly brought us back to where we started: your perpetual conflation of metaphysics with epistemology. Scientific theories and ontologies aren’t the same thing. If you think the latter is baseless, that’s probably right, but I’d think that would give you added incentive in making sure that you understand the difference between a model and the reification of that model.
By the way, you still have a contradiction to explain away.
By the way, you still have a contradiction to explain away.