Building does not guarantee a well built plane or a plane better built than an arf if the person doing the building is inexperienced. A a matter of fact, a new person to the hobby is likely to make lots of mistakes in the building process if he does not have a more experienced builder help him along the way. The key is whether you go with an arf or a kit, if you are new to the hobby, get someone more experienced to help you.
I agree that it is good to build at least one plane (with help) to get a feel for how they are put together...mainly so that making repairs will be less intimidating. Since I have been flying in the last 2 years, I have owned about 10 arfs and have built 2 planes. The arfs have been fine for the most part, but now I always reinforce them in key areas such as the firewall, landing gear, etc. I started out with a sig kadet lt-40 arf which I put together myself and seeked help when I had questions. Before it flew, an experienced pilot at the field checked the plane over and flew the plane for me. Then he helped me fly it. So I don't think arfs are what we should be critical of. In fact we all have a responsibilty at our local clubs to make sure that any new inexperienced person that shows up gets help with his plane and his first few flying experiences. If he doesn't get help (whether he wants it or not) then we should be critical of ourselves for not enforcing our club rules. Like, AJF--2 between family and my job, I don't have the time to spend building every plane, so ARFs allow me to spend more time flying and less time in the garage.

Greg