Ruminations on conduct

What is it that causes those in theological debates, those who consider themselves educated, layman or not, to descend to pejorative, incendiary language in response to those with whom they disagree? I know that I myself have been guilty of this and I have noticed that it occurs in contexts where the discourse is one of thoughts and not voices, gestures devoid of the face that goes with them. In short, it seems to occur within the anonymous context of the internet; the great equalizer between the learned and the laymen and alas, it has also become the spark which has kindled flames of arrogance, condescension, and outright slander.
I, for one, feel ashamed at how, in the pursuit of truth we have forgotten that we dwell in the covenant community, yes that includes those outside our denominations and even our confessions, and instead functioned more adversarially than fraternally. Though I believe that conflict both does and must arise- due to the fact that confessional unity would require both more humility and exegetical depth than we shall ever be possessed of- it does not mean that we should deride, demean, and impugn our opponents. I have often read blog posts to which I wholehearted concurred substantively but was grieved by the manner in which it was conveyed.
Well, this being my first foray into the land of the blog, I felt that I had to get that out of the way.