> I would be interested in the opinions of this group generally about UV/skylight/protective filters.

Shooting into the sun or other bright light sources can cause ghosting with or without a filter, but it's more likely with a filter because of the two additional air/glass surfaces.  Since one of the things I value about my lenses is their flare resistance and resultant color saturation I'd rather take my chances without a protective surface in order to get the full effect of the flare resistance I paid dearly for.

Given that I've gone without UV/skylight/protective filters for 25 years and have yet to damage a lens element it seems like a reasonable tradeoff.  I also have all-risk insurance on my equipment just in case.