You're assuming a lot. It's not fear, it's boredom. I don't read the shit any more cause it's all the same; the same as the last barrage, the same as every other Elan flame war, nearly the same as other non-Elan flame wars, etc.
There's a vital difference between an open discussion and a program. In a program, no one can ignore or disagree with staff or group or the perception of what the program line of thinking should be. Out here in the more commonly accepted reality, we're free of all that.
As to the porn, I still haven't run across any. Even if it's totally disgusting, even if it's illegal content, I probably still wouldn't delete it. If I took a side against content that I find to be offensive or unbelievable then I can't rightly let go content that others (including legislators, litigators and other omnipotent moral busy bodies) find offensive. You're making an error in logic when you assume that my or other admins' failure to intervene equates to approval. It simply isn't our place to judge or to use admin abilities to try and influence the content.
As a fellow forum user, I will sometimes advise people that it would be prudent for them to remove certain illegal or extremely inflammatory content because of the legal or other risk they expose themselves to by posting it. But I try to make it very clear that I can't and won't allow myself to be put into a position of liability over other people's posts. If I did, I'd have to stay awake 24/7 and monitor every new post for fear that some joker who doesn't like this site being up will post something illegal and force me to take it down.