What I truely feel is - Seeing how wrestling is the oldest and greatest sport around, and most everyone I have ever meet in the sport are pretty darn good people. It at times is hard to imagine that we would have people complain for any reason to keep someone (especially a young high school athlete) from participating. We have boy's wrestling girls - in which some think that this is the closest thing to indecency that schools allow, we have kids who wrestle with handicaps, missing limbs, blind and so on. The beard issue in some way is kind of like what I have mentioned. So short of bringing a baseball bat out on the mat I don't see any advantage any of these wrestler would have, nor a diadvantage to any of their opponents, but than again I'm sure someone could give a list of reasons why once they lost to one of them.
Again a rule is a rule in which some say a rule is meant to be broken. However, rules do change to keep up with the changing times, in which everyday is a new day and yesterday was the past. Today the world we live in changes before our eyes, and I coming from a Nazarene Church background I know over years religion and religous beliefs have changed somewhat to keep up with the changing of times, so simply why can't somethings change for ones religous beliefs.
But do we live in a country where religous beliefs are no longer important, some might say yes.
I got a e-mail the other day where a group of hundreds American Soldiers where kneeling in prayer in Irag morning the lose of their falling comrades. A well known group protested saying that these where government employees, on government property and that this was a voilation of some sort of Law (?)by these soldiers - Keep in mind these are the same soilders who put their life on the line so we in America has the freedom to protest, or voice our opinion. There are Countries that shut completely down daily to kneel in prayer, and give thanks, and we call the uncivil.
So I agree with you Mike, I honsestly don't know the answer either, but see how one simple thing like a beard can open the doors for so many others issues of discussion. So is the beard really that big of a thing?
Ronnie Johnson
