I tapped into the BF w/o Guilt pages and was really astonished.  I thought
you guys were exaggerating.  Whew!
It's called argumentum ad hominem (sp?) which I learned about in a first year
college debating class.  Literally it means "argument against the person".
 You try to win points for your side by discrediting the character  and
motives of the person(s) espousing the opposite point of view.  You do this
when your cause is indefensible.  You try to focus attention on how bad the
"enemy" is as a way of side-stepping  the real issues.

Speaking of odious little books, I saw a copy of one that has often been
discussed in this forum, on the shelf of one of the best bookstores in town
(locally owned, humanistic oriented, university neighborhood).  I mentioned
to the person at the reference desk that I thought they should have a look at
it as I did not think it was in keeping with their  philosophy.  She asked me
to bring her the copy which I did and gave her a brief description.  She
thanked me and said this one is going back to the publisher.