“It’s a machlokes about an obscure Gemara that’s not even brought down lehalachah by the Rosh, Rambam, Rif, or Shulchan Aruch. There are many machlokes in halachah and hashkafah and yet none seem to be as polarizing as this.”
If neither the Rif, Rambam, Rosh, or Shulchan Aruch accepted it as binding, there is no machloket.