A lightning rod is a) a metal stake driven into the ground; used to divert lightning strikes and provide a safe channel for the electrical energy contained therein (thus preventing the destruction of buildings which otherwise would bear the brunt of a lighning strike); b) a person whose purpose is to bear criticism and thus protect others (click on the MeatballWiki link below), or c) in the context of Wiki (or the net as a whole), a page or other resource intended to attract flames and other noise, so that they won't pollute other pages containing mostly signal.

LightningRod pages on WardsWiki include (some of these are, or were, originally intended to be humorous):

* Anything with "weenie" in the name
* Most pages ending in "Discussion", "Flames" or "Rant"