Dogmatic vs Pragmatic

Just a few thoughts. Would like to hear from all. Do you feel the "norms" and "practices" laid down in our ancient scriptures would find relevance even today. One easy reply is, some of them are relevant while others aren't. But to delve more into this... should we follow something just because it has been laid down in our scripture... one example.... these are the days when women crave for an identity for themselves rather than just playing second fiddle to their hubby and taking care of cooking and confining to kitchen. One step they take for this, is to have a career for themselves.. and for quite a few of them marriage is no deterrent to their career... But we have some old quotes like "vinaiyey aadavarku uyirey... manaiyurai magalirku avvaadavar uyir" .. dunno if the words are right.. but what it says might be evident.. for men, their work is the life's purpose.. while for the women servicing their hubby is the life's purpose... Traditional dogmatism is not just confined to the aspect of women and marriage... but in our daily life too... there are also things which directly impact our attitude on life and towards other beings.. like belief in "fate", superstitions like "raaghu kaaalam" (an inauspicious time), studying planetary positions (astrology) trying to know what "could be" good for the future... Are we being plagued by unncessary fuss about life and living with such things... Does it mean that one does the right thing if he forces his wife "not to work" suppressing her interests, just because an ancient scripture says so...?? Does it mean I might fail in an exam just because I started from home for the exam in a raaghu kaalam... Do the "planetary positions" really impact on what I do everyday or where I end up 10 years from now or whom I marry (studying horoscopes).. ?? Do I really need to care about them.. or be more rational about my life and go about what I feel is most suited for "my" life... what impact choosing either of it would have on me and my future...