Nobody should ever attack an individual personally or use insults directed at a person's character. I have been on the receiving end of such attacks by believers on this forum more times than I could count.
In my normal life outside this forum I never discuss religion or faith at all - unless I bump into JWs with their trolleys. However this is a religious discussion forum. It is a place explicitly for the purpose of exploring matters of belief.
It was a failure to hold our previous beliefs up to ruthless scrutiny that left us in a life-destroying cult for so long. It makes no sense to leave the cult and carry on shielding the fundamentals of our faith. Just as JWs become offended when we use facts to challenge their precious beliefs, many ex-JW believers react similarly when their alternative superstitions are exposed to evidence.
Instead of responding with reason, facts and evidence, they reveal their insecurity by taking offense at the "tone" and dismiss those who offer the evidence as "militant, angry, or arseholes".
Then we have a large number of people who have very little interest in examining the evidence regarding the big questions but who like to take offense on behalf of others. Some of these tend to be the most prone to making personal attacks. They commit the "middle ground" fallacy by assuming the truth probably lies somewhere between the two positions. It doesn't. Halfway between facts and a lie is still a lie.
Bad ideas should be attacked with all the facts, reason, evidence and rational thinking we can muster. The response should be to reply with evidence for belief. Taking offense or launching ad hominem attacks is - just like JWs - evidence of insecurity.
