Father Ted opined on the concept quite extensively. It's hard to say whether the python "leaders" responsible for this are sociopaths or well-intentioned. If well intentioned the concept is to mold the community into an image of what is good and pure and right, to clip out impurities. Totally from the line of road to hell paved with good intentions. We see how this type of thinking goes - Pol Pot, Germany in the 1940s, and so on - the lesson is that it is wrong to try to mold a person or a society so forcefully, no matter how sweet the ideal. Secondly along the lines of Father Ted, it's increased likelihood at higher levels of seniorities that these are simply sociopaths who use the veil of "good" and kudgel of white guilt to leverage as much power as possible for themselves. Knocking out a scapegoat or two helps establish their power to grant or deny the future of absolutely anyone, basically a low key reign of terror. Sad to see any organization go that way but especially sad in an organization thinking itself to be for the common good.