I think the issue with this subject of secondary or not is that there's not one right or wrong way to do it. It's not like saying "To use water to make beer or not". You could get clear beer with a long primary, or using a secondary. I did a 7 day primary of BM's centennial blonde, bottled it, and it was crystal clear. There's a lot of factors that go into determining how to make beer clear, not just primary or secondary. Just like there's more than one way to condition beer. There's no solid, definitive answer, there are a bunch.
Some of these threads become confusing after awhile, especially when there's 25 threads about the same topic. Everyone has a way of doing things, and that way might not work for everyone. I have a way of making beer that works great for me. I'm not saying my way is the best way, or the right way,but it works for me, and my setup right now is turning out some decent brews that keep getting better. Someone else might watch me make beer and say "Why did you do that, or why didn't you do that this way?" When these threads go on and on, and get started all over every other day, it gets confusing. Someone could read a whole thread and get 10 opinions on how to do something. Then read another thread on the same subject and get another 10 ways to do something. It's up to us to pick out the information that will work for us.
a lot of peoples issue is that they're too lazy to put in a little work to get their information, or they just don't know how the forum format works. I was guilty of it on my very first batch. I panicked about something and before searching out the information, I posted a question. This is the first forum I've participated in for anything, so I had no idea there were different sections or a search feature. Some people do know, but want there answer NOW, without sifting through 100 pages of information.
As far as secondary or not, I don't secondary unless I'm adding some type of flavoring like fruit or chocolate or oak. I normally do 4 weeks primary, then bottle till carbed and drink up. I use whirfloc in the kettle, and with that stuff, you can actually watch all the break material just fall out during whirlpooling. It's pretty fun to watch in my better bottle.