So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, "O Baal, hear us!" But there was no voice; no one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made. And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, "Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened." (1 Kings 18:26-27)Seeing Elijah outright mocks the prophets of Baal, we understand that mocking idolatry is a valid style of criticism. So I'm not willing to say that any particular style is inherently wrong. There are plenty of examples in Scripture of not pulling punches, like Jesus clearing out the temple, calling the Pharisees vipers, Paul openly hoping the judaizers would injure themselves, etc. Not that we are in a position to copy everything they do. Just that the style can't be inherently wrong if they used it.
If you take the axe (of Scripture) to someone's dressing table (ill-thought-out response) he/she might consider it a wound to one's vanity.
So I'm not willing to say that any particular style is inherently wrong. There are plenty of examples in Scripture of not pulling punches, like Jesus clearing out the temple, calling the Pharisees vipers, Paul openly hoping the judaizers would injure themselves, etc. Not that we are in a position to copy everything they do. Just that the style can't be inherently wrong if they used it.
I'd agree to a certain point (though maybe our precise interpretations don't exactly align--for a number of reasons, I don't see Paul as "openly hoping" but instead using what we may call a particularly "pungent" phrasing).
That "certain point" isn't to contradict anything that you've actually said but to contradict something that goes beyond what you said, namely an idea that the normative Christian ideal would be using the "pungent" indiscriminately.
A silver lining of my noticing what goes on in the Religion Forum is that I've reviewed some parts of the Bible, particularly the New Testament letters, concerning speech and related conduct.
It's interesting to compare these passages to certain posts around here. For example, Paul told the Phillippians (4:5), "Let your moderation be known unto all men [newer translations usually use a wording related to 'gentleness']." I notice this verse especially in light of what reputation the Religion Forum has acquired among some members of this site, a reputation that I would say is not fully undeserved. How do outsiders (as in lurkers on the site or people who avoid the Religion Forum) "know" the forum?
I'll respond to your last paragraph later, when I have a little more time.