That's hardly a fair summary, and mostly a red herring. This thread exists because before it did users would make threads asking "Is x banned?", and people would pour in and endlessly spew misinformation. Here it is centralized, and whether someone is banned permanently or temporary is easily knowable. The "free x" is a byproduct of the topic, and I'm alright with it as long as it is not blatant spam. It is part of the zeitgeist of the forum.
The reason is manifold, and you should get many of these if you take the time to think about them.
If you get warned for worship, do you really want me telling everyone that? Should I go into details and embarrass you? Should i go into details about spam warnings knowing it would create copycats and enhance images of self-grandiosity? There is no reason why I should tell others something that is personal and private; you may have no qualms about your privacy, but I personally do. Moreover, I don't feel like explaining in detail every single ban, especially because I would be a hypocrite by discussing topics I literally barred from being discussed.
This would also trigger endless confrontation between users who would think they know best, claiming this and that warning should have been more / less harsh.
I'm sure I can think of half a dozen more reasons, just take 5 minutes and stuff like this becomes obvious.