There are no professional debaters in this forum as far as I can tell, however everyone is free to have an opinion, just as yourself...and others are free to debate them over it.
Being "put off" is a personal decision for each person, as well as leaving. Debate or even arguing is not for everyone...especially very ill people.
However, this is the correct forum for debate and there is a non-debate forum for those who do not wish to disagree so strongly. It was set up this way on purpose.
To answer your question, is this really the way christian people behave...I would say no. At church we do not talk/debate about these issues, because people at church basically believe the same way. Here, we can let our hair down and discuss the nitty gritty of what we want to talk about.
Each person admits that they learn a lot about what they really believe because debate forces them to dig deeper and study harder to defend their beliefs. We have had some eye opening moments between ourselves. I study a lot harder here than I would in a sunday school class, where someone tells you what scripture means.
Yeah I wish it didn't get so intense at times but some issues are a matter of life or death...heaven or hell.