Ad orientem

Prayer is the highest form of human activity. So why is it that modern man, so advanced in so many things, simply cannot pray correctly? Why does modern man feel that he must face himself when he prays to God?

I have been involved with traditional Catholics, traditional Anglicans, and all sorts of Eastern Churches, and the one thing they have in common is that the priest "has his back to the people"? If, however, this is so wrong and insulting, why did Christians for most of the history of Christianity feel that this was the way in which God must be worshiped? Why is it that the only Christians in the world who continue to pray in this way are considered extremists, traditionalists, or just closed-minded? Why is it that most modern Christians (Protestants and Western Catholics) want to turn around and face each other when they pray? Is facing liturgical East for prayer a doomed practice, a remnant of a more backward time?

I grew up having to face Fr. Bob during Mass, but I feel strongly about facing (liturgical) East for prayer. Am I just a weirdo, trying to return to an outdated tradition that is destined to die the death? Or is most of the Christian world wrong?