You know this thread will be a flame war

Of course I'm one of the ones who loves to talk about religion/politics, so I'd like to point out I've never considered any of our discussions "flame wars". Just differing points of view argued with fervor. But I think of flame wars as being more about character assassination than actually debating a topic intelligently.

Of course, I understand wanting to steer clear either way, but the one reason I enjoy discussing politics/religion here is that people tend to leave personal insults out of their points- a rare atmosphere indeed.