So you shut down the one thread that I'm active in because of a little harmless squabbling?! What in the world are you trying to do?
I'm really trying to stick around but you're not making it easy. People get emotional when discussing politics and religion and this is an internet forum where people are mostly anonymous and therefore free of the normal social stigmas that come with speaking your mind. It's not someone's living room or the foyer of a church were everyone around is offended when two individuals raise their voices too high and get into each other's faces. If it is your goal to make TOL a "nice" place to be, it won't be much longer before it doesn't exist at all. People are not going to react to you shutting down threads by becoming nice to one another, they're going to react by simply going away and that includes some who had nothing to do with the minor squabbling that you shut the thread down over.
Just my two cents,
Clete