From a Mod's point of view it's often the tone of the thread that first raises alarms.
Political doesn't simply mean party philosphies, manifestos and their debate, but it can mean things like trying to influence authorities by petition, by protest, by pressure groups, etc.,
Usually both types of such threads are stopped dead.
Sometimes a thread is allowed to run, like the recent one on a newspaper article that was not only blatantly biased but down right false. (portrayal of a specific gun, and it wasn't, iirc.) Links were given in the discussion to direct people's complaints.....that one really skirted the edges, but the people who commented are known to be those who themselves would stop before the thread got out of hand anyway; British Red, Buckshot and others, and it was well handled. No issues
BcUK is a place for conversation as well as a place to pick folks brains for information and guidance.
I refer to it as the virtual campfire, and it really is. There are limits on the conversation only when it goes out of bounds, and we really do expect members to be self moderating.
We're very fortunate, very few ever really kick off and cause any hassle. Discussion, even robust discussion, is welcomed. By it's very nature not everyone will always agree with any one topic....British Red and I can have some doozies of arguements, but I would defend to the last his right to hold his opinions, and he would similarly defend mine, for instance. Issues arise when the topic strays too near to the flashpoints that are not acceptable.
Bear in mind too that the Boss has clearly stated that slagging off people in public life is not on, that Mod's must use their judgement on when to step in and give a clear, 'please desist', message.
Religion (outwith the general Happy Easter, Mayday, Hallowe'en, Merry Christmas type greetings) regardless of how much it matters to many people, is not a topic for discussion; neither is racist comment or promotion, or politics in general.
If you have specific concerns then the Mods and Admin will discuss them, but at the end of the day, the forum is very busy, those few threads are miniscule in the scheme of things here.
cheers,
M