Childishness and science fiction

Over the last few years we've seen a lot of childishness in the science fiction field. Most of it started when the "Puppies" started demanding equal representation, and such. I'm not really going to comment on that because I think there's been a lot of questionable behavior from both sides in this debate, and I think this subject has been done to death. Let's face it, the Hugos aren't what they used to be, and they probably never will be again.
What troubles me is some posts I've seen from some of the more "conservative" authors who feel that they've been blackballed by various editors in the SF community. The fact that these authors are saying this isn't what's bothering me. Instead, I'm bothered by the fact that I actually believe this to be true. Granted, I don't have any proof, but from things I've seen, I do think this is a very real possibility. This bothers me because as an editor, we're supposed to be publishing stories and not authors. As an author, I've had plenty of rejections that state that the editor is passing on the story...not on me as an author. So, based on that, why should we pass on an author because of their political views? The simple answer is, we shouldn't. If the author has written a good story, then we should publish the story.
Obviously the one exception to this is if we're publishing a themed anthology. I'm currently reading for an anthology in which global climate change is real. I'm obviously not going to accept a story that goes against that idea, no matter how well-written it might be.
In the past, I've published stories from authors with very different political and religious ideas from mine. The reason I did this is because I enjoyed the stories. I'm an Atheist, but I've published stories with very Christian ideals because the stories knocked my socks off.  I've published some very conservative authors in the past, including one who eventually became part of a "puppy slate," and I would publish stories from them again if I enjoyed the stories.
There are times when I cringe reading some of the things posted on Facebook by authors I've published, but again, it's their stories that matter, not their beliefs, and that's what the writing world is supposed to be about.
I hate the idea of blackballing someone for their beliefs. In my opinion (and please make sure you understand this is an opinion before you all get upset), the only reasons for blackballing an author are because they're plagiarists, they continually refuse to follow your guidelines, or because they've assaulted you as a person in social media.
End of rant.