Celibacy
Publié le 22/02/2012
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The state of remaining unmarried and
abstaining from sex for religious reasons. In some
religions living in a state of celibacy is considered
the way of perfection and the state appropriate
to its leaders or its most dedicated practitioners.
Examples of religious celibates are priests and
MONKS AND NUNS of ROMAN CATHOLICISM; bishops,
monks, and nuns in EASTERN ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY;
Buddhist monks and nuns; Taoist monks;
and Hindu sadhus or "holy men." Other religions,
such as CONFUCIANISM, JUDAISM, ISLAM, and PROTESTANTISM
in CHRISTIANITY have (with a few exceptions)
taught marriage as a virtual obligation, or
at least a state that in no way diminishes religious
virtue and should be open to all regardless of religious
role.
At the same time, what might be called "spontaneous"
celibacy has occurred even in those
faiths, in the case of persons so immersed in a religious
life that marriage was quietly dismissed as a
personal option. Examples have been (according
to some scholars) Jews of the ancient Essene or
Qumran communities, certain Muslim Sufi mystics
(see SUFISM), and Protestants such as the Shakers
or John Chapman ("Johnny Appleseed"), or many
dedicated female Protestant missionaries and deaconesses.
Sometimes deeply religious persons of
homosexual tendency have found celibacy the best
way of life for them. Sometimes celibacy is entered
as a temporary state, as in the case of young men in
some Theravada Buddhist countries, who become
monks for a year or so before marrying and establishing
themselves in the world. Sometimes celibacy
is a kind of SACRIFICE or offering to GOD.
Advocates of the value of celibacy say that it
allows one to channel sexual energy into spiritual
advancement, that it frees one to practice spirituality
and serve others selfl essly without having to
allow for family obligations, and that it is a way
of attaining egolessness because it is a form of
self-denial that can also support holy poverty and
obedience. It sets an example of a way of life that
is above the passions and obligations of the world
and ordinary human nature. The celibate ideally
can live as a completely free person, free from self
and from entanglements, completely offered to God or the spiritual quest, and can reach enlightenment
or serve God without hindrance.
Yet celibacy is not easy and is not desirable
for all. Controversies have arisen over the extent to
which it should be required in such institutions as
the Roman Catholic Church. Some forms of BUDDHISM,
especially among the Japanese, now permit
priests and monks to be married. The ideals
of celibacy and modern attitudes toward sexuality
and marriage fi nd themselves deeply challenging
to each other.