To my knowledge, there was never a religious section.
Politics, yes. It always started off well enough. Unfortunately, a lack of maturity can only be hidden for so long. Some posters were simply unable to engage in political discussions without resorting to insults or personal attacks or threatening never to return due to some slight they thought they received.
Look, I understand that not everyone can be me. I have a unique intellectual capacity to weather all manner of contentious issue in a calm and purely rational manner. But a little more maturity would've been nice.... (<----:laugh2