So is it safe to say 'Reform Judaism' is another facet of the Progressive movement? Does it slightly twist or totally deny the Torah? This is an education for some of us.
Yes.
Does it slightly twist or totally deny the Torah?
It ignores the parts that disagree with liberalism. There are Christian churches like that, aren't there?
It does not totally deny the Torah. Nor do they explicitly deny G-d. They do, however, deny the Torah was given by G-d directly. They believe it was created by men. To contrast, the conservative denomination (mine) believes that the Torah was given by G-d directly to men, but because they were men, there are a small number of inconsistencies and minor mistakes embedded within the transcription. The Orthodox denomination (to which I believe Alouette is a member of) believe the Torah was given by G-d directly, and that it represents his Word exactly. These positions may vary by individual though.
Reform Judaism does twist the Torah to justify certain things. Pick and choose, so to speak. Furthermore, the movement as a whole is undeniably political these days. Inherent in Judaism itself is a charge, perhaps a geas if you will, to go out and perfect the world. The Reform movement was started out as another modernizing movement, but it has become (starting in the 30s especially, and picking up in the 60s) a very political movement as well. One of the things they've done is confuse socialism for social justice. Thus, they are a very liberal institution.
Now, one of the problems is that they've focussed a lot on assimilation. They succeeded a little too well. As a whole, the movement suffers from a high intermarriage rate in this day and age, though Torrie's friend is, while an exception, not an uncommon one, especially amongst older individuals. The kids don't identify with the faith, thinking their Jewishness refers mainly to a cultural heritage, and often an ethnicity.
They've also substituted liberal (generally left of centre) values for Jewish values. Which has resulted, if you combine these two phenomenon, in a dying religious movement. I wouldn't say the abortion rate is high (safe sex is generally encouraged and practiced: and members are generally wealthy and well-educated), but the birth rate is quite low, and though they generally are very well-educated and well-off, they don't encourage religious values in their children, although they often do teach at least some aspects of Judaism, or Jewishness, as a cultural heritage.
Is it another facet of the "Progressive" movement? Not exactly. Although I would say, in many ways, it is a predecessor that helped create the movement, or at least lay the groundwork. It is as much a facet of the "Progressive" movement as a mainstream, wishywashy, liberal Christian denomination is.
Meaning, it's something a lot of "Progressives" belong to, in order to satisfy their "spiritualism", but not something they adhere to or live by. It has directly given birth to many "Progressives" and has given them more than a few religious leaders, and definitely more than a few gurus.
Its like the liberal Christians, in many ways. They like being called "Jews"/"Christians", because its a neato heritage, but they don't want the whole commandment and absolute morality baggage, nor do they want things that will limit them, or get in the way of their politics (and it doesn't necessarily, just look at the Christian Left in eastern europe).