Interesting thread, to say the least. I'll keep it brief.
Online forums in many ways lend themselves to individuals never meeting each other. Sure, one party may say something that may offend another, but as I see it, why should I care what one person says in an online forum that will cause me no physical harm? As for the mental harm, I can just ignore whoever it is that is allegedly insulting or offensive. It's as simple as that.
LG left. He left because he wanted to. If he wants to come back, he can. I'm not going to lose sleep over it. In fact, I'm going to use the time to practice. Beats contemplating why someone I've never met left a forum, even one as great as this.
My two cents,
Alan