"It becomes obsessed with moral codes to judge those deemed outsiders in order to make the insiders seem "holy" and pure."

That's really a really interesting insight in light of something else I wrote about that school play. When reporters contacted the school district to ask them why they canceled the play, one thing the district cited in its defense is that "no community members complained about the cancellation."

In fact, many community members had complained, including the drama teacher who was born and raised in the community and who graduated from the community high school.

Many student cast members and their families also complained. All of them are (obviously) community members.

It struck me that it's easy to dismiss people and disregard their well-being if you define them a priori as outsiders.