" The conventional wisdom at Mudcat is that... etc...

That seems a wee bit over-general, Joe.... much as I do see the points you are trying to make.

What I would say is that very few issues have such clear, obvious, cut-and-dried answers that folks should feel free to make hateful, nasty, derisive and otherwise critical remarks about them... or about others who may differ.

It is one thing to feel you are 'right', and quite another to know HOW to express your supposed 'rightness' in a fair & reasonable way.

Mudcat allows more freedom of expression than most fora (forums?), but it is STILL the case that people will type stuff here that they would probably not say directly to someone's face, or in a group conversation. Some of the comments are in the gray area...not exactly nasty, but still insensitive and, to be blunt, arrogant.
**YOU** may have strong opinions about something, but simply declaring that YOU are right, and anyone who disagrees is either stupid or ignorant or lying or....whatever... makes it hard to have a real discussion of issues, AND hard for moderators like Joe to decide what to do.

   I don't know the solution... heck...I DO know the solution, I just don't know how to convince others to make an effort to be less ...ummm... defiant... about certain pet issues.

Maybe someone has an idea....

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Sorry, Bill, but I don't think anybody would ever accuse YOU of being a source of "conventional" wisdom. Many people think of you as being the embodiment of what's best at Mudcat. "Conventional Wisdom" is what comes out of the mouth of him who speaks the loudest.
-Joe-