OK, I thought about it

A long walk helped me to formulate a concise explanation of why I (and, apparently, others) feel uncomfortable when our shul (or school, or neighbourhood, or friends ..) "goes black" - ie Haredi /Yeshivish. It seems that one of the hallmarks of contemporary Haredi society is that it is extremely conformist - in dress, in ritual, in social and even personal behaviour, and in thought and belief. It does not tolerate those who don't fit in -- the greatest sin in contemporary Orthodoxy is non-conformity. But conformity, ultimately, is not about inclusion - it is about exclusion. We are excluded, and therefore alienated. And please don't write in and say that we are all imagining it.