Postmodern Orthodoxy?

First of all, here's a media piece that hit today's Metro section of the New York Times: "Jews for Jesus Hit Town and Find a Tough Crowd." Cruise over here for comments from a friend.

Today I was down at Battery Park and ran into a young Orthodox guy. We talked briefly about the idea of Messiah and Jesus. He quoted from the Gemara. Then he said something to the effect of, "I'm happy with my Judaism."

"If a Jewish guy came along and said, 'I'm an atheist and I'm happy with my atheism,' would you say that's OK?"

"Well, yeah," he thought, "it's OK. It's cool."

"But doesn't Torah Judaism say all Jews should keep Torah? How can you say it's cool?"

"Well, they should, but we don't tell people that in a missionizing way."

"So -- atheist, agnostic, believer in Jesus -- it's all cool?"

"Yeah, pretty much so."

This young man was hoping that the Messiah would come, but apparently what anyone actually believes about God and the Messiah doesn't matter a whole lot.

So much for Torah Judaism standing for truth. Does anyone believe in real truth anymore -- what someone once called true truth?