controversial articles and neutrality problems

For some of these debates, it really would be easiest if people could acknowledge that readers could figure out the correct view. We could present all of the facts and all the reasonable opinions from a neutral point of view, and let the content speak for itself.

I think you raise a pretty fair distinction between someone who is a POV warrior and someone who is relatively fair minded, though. It's just that we're now talking about very fine and subtle distinctions -- arguing about what the lead should contain and with what presentation. I don't mean to trivialize the significance of the I-P debate, but when you remember that our goal is to write an encyclopedia it's hard not to roll your eyes.

I honestly think these issues are small enough that they can be settled by the community. If it's small enough that you can solve it by having two versions of the article with only minor differences -- one where the statement is included in the lead, and one where the statement is included in the body -- then clearly this is something that could be settled if it were put to mandatory mediation.