Random thought

[unixronin]

So ... what is it with Christian sects and the public pretense of celibacy, anyway?  I mean, wasn't there some divine command, like, way back near the beginning of the Old Testament, to go forth, be fruitful and multiply?  Pretty hard to keep adding new worshippers for the greater glory of God when it's a sin for them to boink each other, or even to think about it.

I've always considered it one of the weirder foibles of the Catholic church that it requires its clergy to be celibate, but won't allow its lay followers to use birth control.  WTF?  Hello?  Marriage is a sacrament in which the clergy are forbidden to participate?

Comments

a historical acident

[7leaguebootdisk.livejournal.com]

At one time they did, and then the church banned it, so that they would have one more thing for people to pay penance for (pre reformation, a married couple had more days they could not have sex than days they could). A few hundred years after that rule (which came about 1000 AD), there are records of some Cardinals writing that they expect every one of their priests to pay the penance.

Then the reformation came, and being good meant faith, instead of doing good works. A big part of the reformation was that it was much cheaper to be a good protestant than a good catholic.

So now people were expected to obey the rules instead of pay for your sins, and priests no longer got to openly have sex, thus turning them into the gang of perverts that they are today.