very painful memories of trying to assimilate into a Conservative shul
This ^^ ( in case anyone cares ) was a result of consistent attempts by the clergy ( all of them at this particular Shul, old, young, male, female... ALL ) to locate and identify points of harsh criticism of each and every Parsha, and then present it to the congregation in the sermons each and every week.
And...
when counseling the B'nai Mitzvot on their little dvar Torah... they ( the clergy ) would encourage them ( the Children ) to criticize it as well.
it broke my heart and I am still recovering.
edit to add: how do I know this about the clergy.... I sat on the "ritual" committee for about 10 months. I was invited to participate because they wanted a "fresh" perspective to hopefully bring more young warm bodies into Shul for... you guessed it... to make minyan. boy oh boy... I had no idea what I was getting myself into.