Ideologists are always prevelant in the early days of technological revolutions. I'd be worried if there weren't people like this in the Ethereum subreddit and the passion and conviction are a good sign.
Eventually, digital currencies will grow past the ideologists but we aren't there yet!
I think the word "ideologist" can have various connotations. Sometimes it's negative (this is the main accusation directed at the ETC camp). But sometimes it can be positive - e.g. I consider myself an ideologist as far as freedom of speech is concerned.
Also, there is one more interesting aspect related to ideology. Until ETC came into existence, I considered the Ethereum project rather uninteresting, as all I could think of were applications similar to Slockit's offering - smart solutions but IMO having no significant impact.
Whereas Ethereum Classic has brought something very important to the table: for me, it's a blockchain which openly supports the notion of taking responsibility for one's actions. In a way, that's very ideological but I've discovered that I actually need something ideological to make me want to engage.
In case of Steem, it is the notion of free speech and support for human creativity which makes me want to be part of it. So I guess most of us need some kind of ideology to drive our actions.