In any large group of people some are not going to feel included and so are resigned to being on the fringe of the group. But in the soft tyranny of our age ALL must identify and 'fit in' with the group.
The mess hall scene where the 'popular' Tom Paris, and the ever self important Ms Torres are discussing the outcast status of a crew member eating alone. High school never ends, even after 5 centuries. It was a nauseous, disturbingly sad scene.
And so, via the Voyager crew, an age old religion, the group-cult, exhibiting a group-think mentality of which even the Borg must be envious is ever with us (ref: Carrie). Thus enter the religious tie-in of the Captain as a stand in for Christ himself.
On first thought this was a heart warming episode of bringing back into the fold (sheep) the lost ones. But on second thought this is merely another instance of the co-opting a religious concept to enhance the current group-think more Borg than thou mindset currently in vogue.
Great acting by the outcasts. The captain as Christ was beyond belief as either satire or black humor. It's getting hard to tell anymore.
Truly disgusting.....But I love the series anyway.