It seems to me, at least with spiritual or Biblical topics, when a non-Christian cannot persuade a Christian or a Christian has made a point that cannot be proven wrong by a non-Christian, a suggestion is made to close the thread and it is done. I have seen posts edited by ADMIN's because they were "off topic". Why? Why ask then?? I could understand if members were doing nothing but cussing and arguing with each other, fine step in, close it down, let ppl cool down and move onto another subject. However, if there is a mature conversation taking place, citing legitimate examples and making points with no animosity why shut it down?
Because without moderators, a thread will spiral in to terminal decay. We've seen it a million times. To really appreciate how often a subject gets derailed, hang around a bit more and it will become very evident.