Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Celibacy In The church

I was raised a Roman Catholic and for 46 years practiced my faith on and off.
When the sex scandals broke into the media a frenzy of reporting took place especially on the Boston Channels,seemed they had a vendetta going for any priest or bishop caught up in any way with these sex abuse scandals.
At that time and still at present,when these things crop up the first thing people say is "the Catholic Church should let their priest marry then they would not be molesting children or buying sex."
I never understood this train of thought.First of all just because you've chosen celibacy does not mean your need for sex would pervert you and drive you toward children.If this were so why are so many children molested by married family members.
Second I heard,just the other night,that if women were allowed to be priest these scandals would not happen.Now I'm all in favor of women being priest but do you know children are molested in schools and many teachers in most school systems are women.
Some people seem to feel that homosexuality brings out pedophilia in men and drive them toward molesting children.If this were so why are a great deal of child molesters,men and woman,not homosexuals.
Child molesting really has nothing to do with sex it has to do with power.A person in authority who befriends a child only to use his power to molest then keep the child silent.
This year during Holy Week and Easter day all the media seemed to want to talk about was the sex abuse scandals and how the Pope should resign.
Today a Boston paper printed a story of a priest from New Hampshire who answered a Craig's list add and went to a motel to probably have sex with someone.Unfortunately for him it was a police set up and he and 6 others were arrested.
why is it when something inappropriate happens to a priest we feel its good reason to attack an entire profession,most of whom are good men working daily to assist the world around them.
Celibacy is not for everyone even St.Paul said this clearly when he speaks about Unixes. He says some are born that way,some are made that way and some make themselves that way.Those who can take it should those who can not should not.
Celibacy as been around since the early church and some people feel a need to be chaste in order to be closer to God.No it is not for every body but for those who can do it It's very important to them.
You can not judge the choices people make and you can not blame pedophilia or prostitution on the fact that some one has chosen not to have sex or be married.
Selling and buying of one body has gone on for thousands of years and many a married man has used the services of a prostitute.
So who is to blame those who are buying or those who selling?
People make mistakes we are all human and to discredit an entire religion or group of men over the bad choices of a minority is wrong.
I think many people like to see a religious people fall because it makes them feel like these people who profess to be so godly are just as bad as the rest of us.
I say let those who are with out sin cast the first stone because I don't know about you but my house is made out of some pretty thin glass.

1 comment:

Laura said...

Well said, ditto about the glass house.