they don't touch members of the opposite sex other than relatives out of respect for their family and others.
they probably should have planned better. But there is no reason they couldn't respected as well.
Extreme religious views cause much misery and even evil in this world...pretty much all religious have manifested such. This kind of thing is unacceptable. These men should have chartered their own plane. We all pay for our tickets; they don't get special treatment because of their religion.
I don't see how respecting people is extreme. Nor do I see how accommodating people for their faith causes anyone misery.
Well, then you are blind to this issue. The people being disrespected were the other passengers on the plane, not the men who refused to sit next to women. Imposing one's religious fervor on others is not okay. If they want to be accommodated due to their religious beliefs, they must make arrangements ahead of time.
I pay the same amount for my flight as they do: I don't get to tell people to sit somewhere else because of my personal views. I don't get to kick people out of their seats or tell a woman she can't sit with her husband because I want to sit in her seat. I don't get to sit in the aisles throughout the flight and pray, creating a health hazard to other passengers who need to get to and from the toilet. These extremist religious folks were the ones disrespecting others, not the other way around.
I fly often and would be furious about what happened on this plane. It sounds like pure chaos with these religious folks bullying others and taking advantage of political correctness. Had I been a passenger on that flight, no way would I move to suit those men, and I would make a major complaint to the airlines.