It’s just that people get to be Anonymous on these types of forums so many people behave in ways they otherwise wouldn’t
I definitely agree with this. Anonymity can bring out the worst in people, since they know that they're not going to face repercussions for what they say.
This.
People are too free to call people racists, sexists, homophobes, xenophobes, and such around here simply because they advocate issue positions the are not part of the political agendas of organized minorities, feminists, LGBT, and immigration advocates. These are mass constituencies with political agendas, and being against an agenda does not mean you are biased against them as people. Often, however, these groups advocate policies that, however beneficial to these individual groups may be, are not, IMO, beneficial to the whole of America.
That sort of opposition does not make you a racist, sexist, etc. In the real world, such slander can cause one real economic harm. It can also cause one to be able to sue the slanderer and prevail in court. And, quite frankly, many people turn to those epithets to avoid an intellectually honest defense of their policies.
I'm not going to tolerate being called any of those names, and I'm going to push for the banning of people that do. I'm not going to ignore them; I'm going to push, and push, and push, and push for their banning until THEY go away, or stop the slander and stick to discussions on policy. But I'm not going to go to sleep and ignore them while they trash me.
There is, very much, a difference between criticizing one's argument and defaming someone and slandering and libeling their character. I won't stand for that. It's not allowed in the ToS. That's why no one is going to be on my ignore list. If they're going to slander and libel me (which is different than criticizing my, or my viewpoints), I'm going to fight back.
