I agree that it's annoying not to spell things out literally, but what I hear is that if we talk about those aspects then people get in a moral huff and refuse

I agree that it's annoying not to spell things out literally, but what I hear is that if we talk about those aspects then people get in a moral huff and refuse to do anything to solve the problem, and innocent people who aren't hooligans, dumbasses, or fanatics die along with the hooligans, dumbasses, and fanatics. If you say it's "not really about" those things, then you bypass people's knee-jerk moralism and make it possible to actually work on the problem and prevent people from dying, which is important because many sane and reasonable people have no choice but to mix in with the dumbasses if they want to participate in these activities.