In my opinion it also has to do with the disintegration of the Jewish community. The quarrel between religious Jews and "secular" jews goes back to the 17th and 18th Centuries. Sometimes during the 19th Century, the idea of an "ethnic" Jews appeared: someone who was "Jewish" but nonobservant or even hostile to Judaism. So we get a new "nationality" where family kinship rather than religion is determinative. Now even the latter seems to be breaking down as Jews more an more intermarry with nonJews and birthrates among Jews drop. Only the observant seem to be growing in numbers. I suspect that the impatience with Christian symbols is part of the fear of assimilation. It puts some rabbis in alliance with those Jews who detest all religion.
"In my opinion it also has to do with the disintegration of the Jewish community"
Thank you for your observations.
Remember, I am from Memphis, and I never observed strong orthodoxy that I see only in movies.
Some of my best friends were Jewish. One was a great interior designer, and put on the best New Years eve parties that I ever visited. The nearest synagogue was only a few blocks away from his home.