" More of the " I'm only doing it because someone else is doing it " excuse.
Ever heard of the saying " two wrongs don't make a right " ?"
Perhaps you are more turn the other cheek than me.
"The thing is the majority of people who think that man made climate change is likey to be real aren't hurling at insults at people. It is only the extremists at the edge that are doing this. And then their comments are spun and amplified by the deniers that oppose them. Most people have no time for the shockjocks at either end of the scale."
All that may be true, but the issue at hand is the slow progressive(in more than one sense) denial of opposing views. And on a government funded platform, The Conversation. Government sponsored censorship.
"" Climacultist " ? Hah. Maybe in the 60's it was cool and clever to attempt to insult people in a discussion to try and win an argument. But these days, insulting people to try and make a point doesn't work. It just demonstrates that your argument is weak and you are trying to bolster it with insults."
You have no doubt seen the insults coming back the other way. Even the term 'denier' was adopted as a subtle insult by way of association with 'holocaust denier', so every time you use that term, consciously or not, you are using an insult as a psychological tool to enhance your psychological domination of the debate. A neutral term like 'dissenter' would be preferable.
"35 years ? Are you trying to say you have 35 years worth of knowledge on climate change ? I notice you have avoided saying how much you've actually read on the subject in that time."
I never said that I have 35 years of knowledge on it or anything else. What I am saying is that after the global cooling scare of the 1970's and various other scares(eg. the overpopulation scare, resource depletion scare, ozone hole etc) I became sceptical of scare campaigns in general. So I have watched the global warming story through the same lens, a propaganda campaign in aid of political and economic goals.
"Tell me now, yes or no, do you support the banning of dissenting views on alleged climate change? Your answer will determine how worthwhile a person I consider you to be, and whether you are worthy of any respect."
You forgot to answer this question. Failure to answer will confirm my assumption that you support the censoring of dissenting views. Surprise me....
