linear - 1:17 am on Aug 13, 2006 (gmt 0)

By no means do I consider filesystem permissions a major concern for WP users. For the following reasons:
a) they aren't set writeable by default (so presumably if you set them writeable, you at least know they are writeable),
b) they affect templates rather than content since content is stored in tables (plus the .htaccess file for permalinks),
c) hosts do generally do a decent job of keeping other local users out of your filesystem, and
d) there's not a remotely exploitable issue with these files being writeable in general.

The bigger risk if you use the WP template editor features is that you mess up your templates yourself.