I think there is also just a general increase in the lack of civility in society, but I think your question "Is this the best way to be handling these people?" is valid. I know there are many here who have been severly traumatized in the past with JW religion or out right abuse, and I think that perhaps such wounded souls for their own healing should not engage the Borg defenders. Also when people do engage in emotional reactive responses, its really not usually productive, never brings the other into understanding of their viewpoint, and just gets people emotionally sick. Then there are the people who deliberatly bait wounded or emotionally prone people jsut to screw with them. IMO those are the Trolls.
I am not saying emotions are wrong; I am not saying feeling passionatly about something is wrong; i am saying "Know thyself", your limits, your buttons, your issues, and consider before responding to people that piss you off, "Why am I responding to this", "What in me is resonating with what they said?", "Will what i say and how I say it be of any true use to others?"
I have an idea related to this that I just can't seem to organize, basically we all have our talents and temperments, some should get into the discussion and others should just stay the hell out...{POORLY worded, trying to get the concept without the layer of negative}
I think about issues regarding emotional communication often, I have family members whose very nature is to automatically get emotional and over react. They LOVE a good argument and heated discussion, and are "right" even when they are wrong. They get over their huff in a few minutes, and then can actually admit that they were wrong, but in the mean time I am still sick to my stomach with emotional turmoil. My natural state is one of calm, I prefer to take problems or issues and gently pull them apart, dispassionatly , logic has its place but so do intuition and feeling.
On here, I usually just ignore the people that irk me, as usually someone else will say to them something way better than I could. But my emotions do get the better of me at times.