>We (or more properly, I) appreciate your input and knowledge, but . . . . .
>replying at the top is like sharpening a fine knife on a cinder block.

Definitely not 'we'. Bottom posting is all too often pain as too many
people just quote the entire document and then add maybe one trite
line of text, typically: "me too". Top posting means I don't have to
manually scroll to the bottom of each message to read the
contribution. I see no problem with top or bottom posting provided
that the context is clear.