Religiosity in (post)Modern Times

"Wrestling with Conviction" is the title of a new editorial on Espn by blogger/magazine columnist extraordinaire Rick Reilly. He talks about the story of a high school wrestler who, out of his family's deep religious conviction for treating women with respect, decides not to compete against a girl in his Iowa state tournament. Reilly touts back: 


"Does any wrong-headed decision suddenly become right when defended with religious conviction? In this age, don't we know better?"


This is an interesting argument coming from ESPN, not exactly an organization known for its great philosophical repartee. The whole of Reilly's article does little more than energize the typical pro-feminist position: Let the women take on any man, any time; it's no matter that the girl in question actually did lose her next two matches handily.


Going back to Reilly's rhetorical questions, the answer to the second is easy: no we don't, actually we generally assume the opposite. The battle cry of this generation is "Do what's right for you and I'll do what's right for me and we'll both be better for it." On the other hand, the message of orthodox Christianity has always been "Do my decisions line up not with my personal feelings and motivations, but with the authority and commands of God's Holy Word?"