Well what a lot of huff!
Firstly (and most importantly) hope you all had a very merry Christmas and here's to the best of New Years to you all.
On to the subject in hand...
Personally, I think banning topics, whatever their sentiment, is a recipe for disaster. Banter, discussion and argument are what make virtual pubs like this forum worth visiting. What we have here is one person got upset (unjustifiably IMHO) by an innocent enough comment. Well, people get p1ssed off by such comments all the time... Even the best of mates can fall out over nonsense.
Abuse is never acceptable, and if it occurs it should be removed from the site. But abuse could arise within any thread, whatever the subject. God (whichever version you want

) knows I've faced enough over my love of gas stoves!
Let's also put this in context too. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is the first 'thread gone bad' we've had (?) Let's not throw our toys out the pram for a one off.
So may I propose the following; No ban on subjects - it would never work as threads wander all over the place; If anyone gets upset either A) stop following that thread or B) report the thread to a moderator; And if anyone post anything abusive they get taken off forum.
Well that's my opinion, make of it what you will.
(Oh and for the record, I am a religious atheist

)