I think the idea is that it's better to err on the side of too-strict moderation than too-lax. People can always come back to re-try a question at another time, but, once the spirit of the community is lost, there's not much you can do about it.

(Not to say I like the StackExchange community much. It's far too top-down directed for me. But I'm very much sympathetic to the spirit of strict moderation.)