They are, in fact, functioning as Socratic dialog if they aren't being asked in earnest, but rather, to provoke response/induce counterthought. And, again, I'm not saying that that's a bad thing; just that it's not a given that people reading the thread will understand that you don't actually "mean it."

As for lecturing; eh. I responded as I would have if the question was asked in earnest. I could have been more diplomatic, but I wasn't rude, and I answered the question to the best of my knowledge.

Basically, read my responses as "I totally didn't know that your question was rhetorical, there being no explicit or implicit context that led me to believe it was. Marking such statements would have prevented me from mis-interpreting it. Regardless, no harm done.