@Chary - Not looking to place blame on anyone, but if that's the case, why are these threads deleted when they derail? The thread the other day about the afghanistan bombing turned into "gays should be executed." Why are those people not banned and their posts deleted? Why is the entire thread (some of which was legit discussion) deleted and the people saying that shit still here?
If they are just going to be deleted when the chaos begins, and we know it will happen every time, why even bother allowing them? Im all for free speech, but this seems pointless.
various groups in MMOs i've had have routinely banned religion and politics for reasons you've already mentioned. while its fine to have opinions, eventually people meet a "make or break" point where a conversation just turns into fights. I personally would not object to banning such threads but then it does also stop potentially positive conversations.
tl;dr: this kind of thing can't win no matter what and it sucks