I think it is a sad day if that is how we are perceived by newcomers to this site.

As stated by Slart, there's a huge crowd in here trying their very best to help people out as much as they can.
For absolutely no other reason than to give back to the society that got themselves up and running with straight razor shaving.

The reasoning behind the advice to learn to shave first, then to hone, is IMHO pretty sound.
That said, I did quite the opposite, and have advised others that felt that was the way to go, to the best of my abilities, how they should go forward with that.

Learning both at the same time, did provide me with the usual frustrations and uncertainty that comes with it for most new starters.
For that reason, and no other, I try to give that experience back to the community.

And about the fear of being banned for having a view other than that of the mods, I really don't see that happening on SRP.
Believe you me, we mods are just as different between us as the regular members are
And to me, that is half the fun!