There was an unspoken ideal of being the sort of person who faces tough truths, not being weak enough to seek comfort in delusions. There was a lot of snark and a tendency to feud.

I think this might have more to do with the venue than the participants. Heroic contrarian snark is a closely held cultural value in a great many Internet subcultures, not just the atheist/skeptical ones -- so much so that many go out of their way to create opportunities to be snarky and heroically contrarian, even at the expense of other values.