Depends what you mean by "respect". When someone makes strong statements that you disagree with, it is disrespectul to ignore that person & his statements, because he obviously is trying to interact with you. Further, it is disrespectful to one's self to ignore strong statements that oppose one's own beliefs. We ALL have to stand up for ourselves.

I don't see why a bit of intellectual jousting in cyber space causes you distress, Demi. Personally, I try to stop others' conflicts only when some deep harm is going to be done. If the owner of this forum doesn't like the members here having a relatively respectful conflict, he can always delete our posts and give us a scolding. You know, like we're little children in kindergarten.