There seem to be two subjects which are almost guaranteed to lead to nastiness - politics and religion. Is it impossible for people to listen calmly

Honestly, I think religion-debate is probably one of the very few things that has actually gotten [i]more[/i] civil since that maxim first emerged. A lot of other things could be added to the list nowadays though. Political discourse is getting nearly as lowbrow as it was in the latter half of the 19th century. Not to mention that about two-thirds of the population seem to have been erroneously convinced that things like "gender issues" and gun control count as "politics". Meanwhile, I would be impressed if one American who reads this could correctly state the number of wars their country is currently involved in.