I get it; these are Christians who want to be identified by their adherence to the words of Jesus, not Pat Robertson.  Or, they just want their women to be able to braid their hair.  My New Testament Professor would be turning over in his grave if he weren't still alive.  As resident genius, he knew that it was dangerous to highlight the words attributed to Jesus as if they were more meaningful than the rest of the Biblical text.  It's not that he believed the words weren't really those of Jesus, quite the opposite.  He believed that all of the Bible was God's Word equally and we lessen the whole of the text if we only celebrate part.

My less theological opposition to this label is because it makes me think of The Red Letter, "A," from Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter.  The "A" is a symbol of a Christian community's judgement against, and lack of acceptance towards those who stray from their cultural norms.  Of course, that is exactly what Christian's like Campolo, Wallis, and the Emergent Church are doing, so maybe the label fits--though not for their intended reasons.

What's a 'Red-Letter Christian'? by Tony Campolo

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