Don't we have to respect the opinions of others, even when we don't share the same opinion?
No, we don't. Everyone has the right to express their opinion. They do not have the right for their opinion to be respected -- there's no such right.
I don't know if you know programming, but the way the software works would require major changes for this to be done. It's one thing to configure a board for this limitation, another is a specific topic.
Not really -- signatures are already turned off in WO, for the very reason why I think merits should be turned off there: they are conducive to spamming.
Furthermore, this could set a dangerous precedent where whenever the subject of a topic was bothersome, the merits would be disabled. Someone is very dangerous that line of reasoning.
What? It's like you didn't actually read anything that was being said here at all. Oh, you didn't:
Well... I'm not going to read 4 pages of posts.
Personally I like the idea floated by PowerGlove about the option to turn merits off in a topic by its creator. Seems like a straight-forward implementation and would assist those who want discussion in their thread to be more serious.