Mods, if you feel you need to shut a thread down, why not just lock it?
Can anyone give a good reason why deleting a thread would be preferable to just locking it, absent legal reasons and other force majeure?
It's better if a member who started the topic locks it rather than a moderator. This will avoid restrictive moderation policy and will ensure free speech at all time. a moderator can then encourage such voluntary locking as and when required