I've gone over my bars once, due to my brake, and I hope to never do it again. That was two years ago. Since then, I've probably had about 10 near-misses that I avoided because I had a brake. To each his/her own, but I feel more comfortable having one.

I don't think getting into a pissing contest over who has more mad bike skillz is especially productive. The person who panicked and clenched down on their brake may be a far more "skilled" rider than the person who's been lucky enough to avoid crashing their brakeless bike. Or vice versa. It's a little hard to judge based on a few sentences.

but hey, it's the internet, right? argue it up!