I've often wondered why this sort of overengineering, excess, and heavy "preaching" of "best practices" is more prevalent in some software ecosystems than others; the best hypothesis I can come up with is that it happens because the barrier to entry is low and the problems to be solved are easy, which encourages people to add complexity until it's not. Furthermore, the simplicity causes opportunities for something like a religion to develop: you don't have to think, just believe and follow. It's cargo-cult. Some fact that worked for someone gets parroted as "best practice" and then, despite how suboptimal it could be for them, others pick it up and think it's the "best" solution, and it works for them, propagating the belief. There's little questioning, because those who believe don't themselves actually understand enough to.

You may find this article to your agreement: http://www.satisfice.com/blog/archives/27