Hey Cynical, my hand’s still raised! 😉
I will accept that there is a segment of Conservative clergy and laity committed to Jewish observance and learning. Regrettably, this is not as widespread as you may like. In fact, here in my out of town community, there’s a lot of blurring of the lines between Conservative and Reform, in youth groups, shared services, etc.
Here’s also something for you to comment on, if you could:
Many if not most non-Orthodox Jews are such because their (great)grandparents succumbed and stopped observing Shabbos. (And it is clear that it is impossible for us to judge them. There was widespread Jewish illiteracy, starvation, missionizing and much more that we can’t imagine.) These grandchildren now are conservative, reform, reconstructionist, etc. if still identifying Jewishly.
(There is a population, probably boomer-age, who may have abandoned Orthodoxy, probably in college, probably because they didn’t have the strongest Jewish identity or had very uninspired and uninspiring teachers.)
But AFAI can tell, this is where the non-Orthodox population comes from, not from any contemporary mass movement from the Orthodox.
I see middle aged people whose parents were traditional and Conservative, they themselves will not mix meat and dairy and will only buy kosher meat, but their kids aren’t continuing. I’ll bet you see this all the time; I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. How can people maintain their own level of non-Orthodox and observance and see it carry over? Does it require a level of exclusivity, not eating in other people’s homes, etc.? You’re right, I don’t have too much interaction with non-Orthodox people, and I’m intrigued by the nuts and bolts of life.
I could go on but I have to get ready for Shabbos myself. Gut Shabbos.