It was when Donald Knuth wrote that, 50 years ago. Nowadays it is engineering.
It is desirable for a programmer to build software, within a specific time, specific cost and certain specs. 100% Engineering.
Now this is valid for 99% of software jobs out there. You will always find some company that does software research, but it's the 1%.
I do agree that software development is many parts engineering, but I believe that farming is engineering to the same extent (I do both, so I have an intimate knowledge of how they compare). Imagine a farmer calling himself an agricultural engineer.
It is part of the nomenclature now, so it is what it is, but I don't see what was wrong with the previous "programmer" or "software developer" titles. The engineering part was already implied.
Indeed, in some countries (like mine) calling yourself an engineer while not having the real degree it's illegal, even if it's your job description.
Incidentally, here (Argentina) we have the equivalent of farming engineer, called "Ingeniero Agrónomo". It's a very common career choice, and well paid.
It's simply a discussion people aren't interested in having, and at the end of the day it's the participants who decide what gets up or downvoted.