If you’re getting pitted, is it kosher for you to come in and defend yourself?
Of course. That’s the entire point.
Yeah, why ever not?
Sure, but sometimes not going in can be very effective too.
Ask your rabbi; personally I’m Lutheran - almost everything is in play for us. 
Most folks, if they know they have been Pitted, tend to offer at least a token rebuttal and some posters IMHO almost HOPE for a Pitting just to be able to drop the gloves and have a (usually) fun series of exchanges. It all comes down to personal choice.
Let’s Pit the OP and see what happens! 
I remember seeing (sorry, no cite) pit posts whining about pittees traipsing into their own pit threads, and I’d wonder how in the good name of Buffy St. Marie could there be any legitimacy behind such whining.
(And please, please - nobody spell that as “whinging”, ok?):(
Sure, but it’s not recommended. It’s giving a fire the oxygen it wants.
Only if the OP promises to rebut our pitting via interpretive dance (youtube link, perhaps.) Otherwise I’m not going through the effort.
::was considering retorting with Y.F.'s “Puttin On the Ritz” number but then I was like naaaa::
There would be an awful lot of popcorn going to waste if you didn’t.
…as the raging force inside me builds and builds until I burst into my terrifying alter ego…
…The Incredible Mel Slurp.
I’m sorry, but we do not practice excessive nationalism on this board, (mostly). Whinging is the standard spelling and pronunciation of our British members. You are free to Pit them for their pronunciation, but I do not recommend it–something about their freedom and ability to defend themselves in the Pit.
Depends on whether they’re whinging (grousing, complaining) or whining (making a noise like a baby).
Ah, I see, thanks.
Ignorance cross-checked.
GC: so one can still technically whinE in Britain?
Not quite. British people whine too. As GreysonCarlisle says, whinge is not an alternative spelling/pronunciation for whine, it’s an additional word in British English, somewhat confusingly for a closely related concept.
A ‘hilarious’ joke in the UK is a couple are having a meal and the waiter approaches and asks ‘Would you like a little wine with your food?’ Given the affirmative the waiter then lets out a plaintive wail.
Laugh? Thought I’d never start…
TCMF-2L
There’s very little that isn’t kosher in the Pit. Defending yourself in a Pit thread is allowed. So is complaining about people defending themselves.
What about posters who use that spelling that ARE NOT British, and use it anyway? It seems like an affectation, at best.
English (American, in this case) is full of borrowed words and spellings.