I use whatever thread I have on hand, from cotton to cotton poly, whatever. And the thread holds up well no matter what it is. Fabric can be another story as I posted in another message thread. I have an older quilt where I used a very high quality batik which is starting to degrade.
I think people should do what makes them comfortable, but thread isn't a big deal to me. Just my opinion.
A couple years ago I read a message thread (no pun intended ;-)) about how polyester can saw through fabric. I sewed a couple of fabric scraps together and hung a weight to one of the pieces to put a ton of pressure on the seam. Two years later, the test is still on my bulletin board. The poly thread is now a little stretched, but no damage to the fabric.
I'm most worried about good tension and nice small stitches, which my old Pfaff 7550 can provide with pretty much any thread. The thread itself doesn't really make that much difference
And about lint, the lintiest thing we work with is batting, followed closely by fabric. Thread comes in last place in that race. I used beige thread on a green quilt. My lint was green, hardly beige at all.