SI lets not make this a personal issue and I dont want to see insults hurled at Greek.
Most of us dont have any ambiguity about Blackhat SEO techniques which have caused us harm in the search engines and which literally steal food from the plates of our children. I do NOT respect anyone who steals, quite the opposite. Nor do I admire their cleverness or wish that I had emulated them.
I would rather earn 10 honest dollars then a million dirty ones.
Everyone is gray to some extent as you say, but the difference between good and evil in this business is the limits we set on ourselves in what we will and will not do for a buck.
I believe you are following the right course in developing your own materials and striving to create a content rich site for your visitors. YOU and the webmasters like you are the ones we need to appreciate and applaud. Not some useless and parasitic dreg who wants to make a living out of stealing the hard work of others or finding loop holes within the system that allow them to do it.