I quite agree with this, although as you would probably expect I also agree with Mustard and Nigel on the "opinion as fact" aspect as well.

As as been said before, where the wheels come off in these sorts of threads is usually when someone expects their opinion to be taken as fact, and any attempt to challenge or question (or sometimes even put forward an alternative) is met with defensive affront, which can quickly descend into name-calling and in some cases has led to extremely offensive comments, sexism, racism, homophobia, ageism, sectarian abuse, you name it, we've had it. That's not in any way aimed at AC, by the way.

I'm not sure that this argument is ever likely to resolve itself, but I do think it could easily be avoided by people accepting that their viewpoint (whether it's 'alternative' or deeply conservative) is just that - an opinion. Then everyone can discuss and debate without fear of offence. Just my opinion, obviously!