Not a film student, but I saw BoaN in the mid-eighties only because I had seen it listed as an early milestone film.

Lubbock is no longer a dry county. That changed in 2009.
As a local, I'd blame the lunacy on wacky religions like the Baptist and Church of Christ.
Also, Kermit is near Odessa/Midland. It's 150 miles south of Lubbock, so I can't speak to the source of its insanity specifically, but…