rebdoniel: Good Moed 1)I have tremendous respect for you after having just read about your early years you truly are a Gibor. 2)I have a differing perspective on two thoughts that you wrote within your paragraphs
A)”English hymns (some of them very beautiful, taken from the Protestant tradition, which are not theologically problematic for Jews)”
B)”Orthodoxy is imperfect and is a reaction against Reform”
A) The use of hymns based on protestant church prayer or tunes used in protestant churches is problematic with Jewish theology.The whole reason they were used for reform prayer was to be seen as less traditional and to resemble a church gathering.Additionally, to praise Hashem based on something taken from another religion and incorporating its use for tefilla purpose is definetly a zilzul,falls under Uvichukoseichem Lo Sieleichu and probably Chillul Hashem as well.(many other reasons can be listed)
B) (I assume that you are not talking about the vailidty of frum versus reform because that would be denying Moshe Emes Visoraso Emes but rather you are talking about some of the Halacha and Hashkafa chumras that have been going on versus the secular world which do not have a discernible reason for their implementation.)
Various strictures and sometimes seemingly unnecessary positions of chumra have always been around. To say that Orthodoxy as we know it is a response to reform does not jive. Even in the days of yore we have had lenient versus strict interpretations of Halacha and Hashkafa. Granted over the past decade there are issues of extremism within our ranks. However, would anyone have thought even just 5-10 years ago that marriage laws against family values could be passed or that the usage of vulgar language and improper topic matter in mainstream media is such that one cannot even turn on a news station with kids in the car for fear of the ads they might run or that even a clean internet site can showcase ads or topics that are improper for a G-d fearing person?
The move to the right in all sectors of orthodoxy over the past twenty years is not a response to the reform movement but a response to the sick world we live in.