Fair enough, I consider it understandable, and I picked the thread I listed above as an example for a reason. I’ve participated in many gun threads as a moderate on the pro-gun side, and the overwhelming majority of the board leans towards gun control. And it’s an emotionally charged issue, where both sides can and do exaggerate what points the other posters are making in order to score points. And that leaves out certain well worn arguments that move neither side.
So again, if I understand correctly @Aeschines has a completely understandable aversion to participate in discussions for charged issues, because they feel they cannot do so without their arguments (or personality) being attacked. Which is fine, but, IMHO, is a matter of personal preference, rather than a problem with the board itself.
No one is wrong - see any of our cooking threads as an example, which is low stakes, but people are fighting over definitions and preferences regarding BBQ as a concurrent example, and while not Pit-worthy, people are flinging hate towards preferences that can be confrontational.
I said it in your ATMB thread though, “We are why we can’t have nice things.” It’s not the board, the rules, or the mods, but people being people. This is a place that insists you fight for your beliefs (the whole fighting ignorance thing board culture) and that confrontational attitude is part and parcel of all the styles. And since far too many of us (including you IMHO, and absolutely including me!) get emotionally involved in the debate, the snark and invective very quickly escalates.
This is not pitting of you, this is an observation of how the majority of the board argues, which is why I included myself. Heck, in a recent thread (not linking) I got one of my personal peeves get the best of me and since it was the Pit, I went to town on another poster. It was absolutely excessive. And it made the situation worse. I (and probably everyone else) would have been better off taking 24 hours away and doing something else.
But sometimes we don’t do that. And once the anger kicks in, common sense and good judgement often check out.