Profanity filter

[El Diablo]

So, I was just wondering this after reading the avatar thread.

Why does the profanity filter really exist?

Is it really that bad for people to be allowed to write shi* or fu*k or other words like that?

I made a list of current posts the other day in the Nate banning thread. This is what I found from a 5-minute glance at a few forums:

--
Phil Ivey is a strip club degen
in this thread we name investments better than staking TJ
Famous poker player caught in bed w/ another poker players' wife?
Which poker players look like they do drugs?
Card Runners Tech support is a joke.
Sexual variance
WTF my farts smell so bad they are preventing me from sleeping
Threeway turns weird--hot or not?
Girls & PhotoBucket Accounts *** NSFW ***
Beat: Made out w/ fattie in public
Best Jerking off session of my life
How do I stop my girlfriend making sounds during sex?
ask me about being the happiest guy alive (i.e. I just rubbed one out)
is smoking a blunt or eating mcdonalds worse for you?
Friend pisses in my bed....
--

I find it weird that these topics are allowed to be carried on at 2+2, while standard profanities are filtered.

To me, much of the discussion on 2+2 is far, far, far more offensive and inappropriate than lots of the words that are censored.

Anyhow, I'm not really pushing for change or anything. I was just curious about the background of this decision and was wondering how other mods/admins felt about it.