That is my biggest bug-a-boo with the handholding. The whole idea that we have to physically touch to pray together.
How would a prayer chain ever work if we had to touch?
I think mine is the frenzied preoccupation with appearances: "Hey, we're holding hands -- see how united we are!" "Hey, we're bustling around, 'helping' the priest -- that's active participation for ya!" "See! My hands are in the orans position -- everyone can see how holy I am!" "See us sit in a semicircle around the altar -- like kindergarten kids. We're a real community!"
There's a lot of superficiality in the information age. Appearances can, of course, be important, but I think there's a strong tendency to be immensely satisfied with just the appearance.