I will not engage “Cynical” in a back and forth, question and answer session. The reason? It really doesn’t matter what he thinks, and THAT is the ikar point.
“Conservatives” THINK that THEY can make their own decisions about what halachos are important or relevant, or to what degree they are relevant. It is what we call “cafeteria Judaism”, i.e. take a stroll through the Shulchan Aruch (not that most “conservative Jews” even know what a Shulchan Aruch IS) and as you stroll through, you say “Oh, Chanukah candles, OOOH, I like that, I’ll put that on my tray, but taharas hamishpacha… THOSE are antiquate laws that don’t interest me, so I’ll just pass those by, and uhh… Shabbas? – hmm… well, yeah I like my rabbi’s sermons Saturday mornings, but I enjoy going to the movies on Saturday afternoons, so I’m NOT gonna get FANATIC about Shabbas.” –And so the stroll goes.
“Conservative Judaism” is a diseased product of galus in general, and of American democracy in particular. American life teaches that every thing can be voted on, everything is up to YOU to decide.
HaSh-m’s mitzvot are just THAT – MITZVOT, commandments, NOT suggestions. Yes, we have free will, but along with that free will, come CONSEQUENCES! Reward for observing the mitzvot and PUNISHMENT for NOT observing them. It is NOT that HaSh-m is saying “you have free will – keep the mitzvot, don’t keep the mitzvot, either way is fine with me, – whatever you guys wanna do, I’m OK with it.” That is NOT the way it works. But in the “conservative” world, where the opinion of “rabbi Cynical” is just as valid as that of Rav Moshe zatz”l, or even the opinion of the average (Jewishly) uneducated baal ha’bayis is as valid as that of Rav Moshe, that IS the way it works.
And so, – we are on two completely different wavelengths, and debate is futile.
Do I hate “conservative” Jews? NOT AT ALL. I am terribly sad and sick over this galus disease that has claimed so many of our brothers and sisters, and will continue, HaSh-m yirachaiym, to claim many more as their intermarriage rates continue to soar. The only answer (in our human hands) is kiruv, – not debate.