Taking satoshi out of the equation altogether, whether they were here or not, the only thing that has any discernible impact is consensus.  It's fine to have an opinion on which network you believe is a closer reflection to a document written by satoshi, but at the end of the day, it's just an opinion. 

If some people allow their opinion to blind them to the reality that the Bitcoin network is the one that has the:

• most potent network effects
• longest chain without cheating with an emergency difficulty adjustment
• majority of the community's dev talent working on it
• largest support from users running full nodes
• most recognisable "brand"
• greatest utility and actual usage in making real-world transactions

then there's nothing we can do for them.  They're entitled to their fantasies that they're winning some sort of perceived "moral high ground", but the simple fact is, they've lost far more than just that.