Friend's False Claims

[StubbleSpark]

Implicit in your friend’s argument is that the human being is a sexual animal that needs to be “fed” sex (like an angry beast) to keep it passive.

Implicit in the Church’s rule of celibacy is that man has an intellect that can keep his base desires in check. That our passion for God MORE than satiates any physical craving.

Protestants (and others) like to point and laugh at celibacy. There is nothing laughable about it – it is noble to offer oneself up wholly as a holocaust to Christ. So we can only suspect that the reason they are laughing is because they are in awe.

Maybe if we were as defensive of our priests’ vows as we are of the daily sacrifices made by service members, people would be less likely to point and laugh.

 

[RobedWithLight]

Anyone who laughs at celibacy should first try it out for themselves, if they can.

Gerry

 

[StubbleSpark]

By the way, sex is a violation of the rule of celibacy. Any priest, whether he is having sexual relations with an adult woman or a child of any gender, is NOT celibate. Period.

 

[Pinklady]

john_794:

Currently my friend is attacking my faith constantly (and has been since I came back to the Church). He says that the sex abuse scandal was caused by the system. My friend claims that if priests were allowed to have sex they would not have done these things. He says that I am just worried “My beloved church is falling”.

What can I do to refute his claims? Thanks so much.

You really can’t because he wants to believe them. Guess you’ll just have to suffer and turn the other cheek.

 

[monina]

Celibacy doesn’t cause pedophilia any more than monogamy causes adultery!

If we followed your friend’s argument, then all those men who cheat on their wives (and, I suppose, women who cheat on their husbands) wouldn’t have cheated if adultery were allowed, right?

 

[Elizabeth_B]

According to a good friend, a case worker with Child Protective Services, the largest group of abusers is composed of live-in boyfriends and stepfathers, not related to the child. Assuming they are intimate with the child’s mother, celibacy is not the primary cause of abuse. This and the fact that the large majority of cases involve teenage boys indicate that permitting priests to marry is not likely to help.