Posted on 03/23/2010 3:45:22 PM PDT by NYer
Actually, it is to abstain from sex with anyone. If celibacy is not for you, do not join the club. Christ tells us not only to turn from sinful acts, but also sinful thoughts.
I understand that you were merely clarifying the plausibility of an argument, however if one is serious about truth, one ought to look beyond surface plausibility.
No masturbation is a selfish act and is therefor sinful. The point of celibacy is not just to have priests refrain from intercourse, but sexual release in general, given it distracts the priest from god.
I was somewhat surprised to learn that semen is not produced at a constant rate. Secretion is enhanced by desire, fantasies, etc. That means that males who do not engage in lustful fantasies have less need to release the stuff. It is perfectly possible to live without sex. However, I do think that there is no scriptural basis for celibate clergy.
Not semen, but sperm cells.
It’s approximately 1,500 sperm cells produced every second, in a healthy male.
Those cells can’t remain in the epididymis, for too long. The risks include elevated chances of testicular cancer.
Not only true in Germany but all over the world.
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NOT helping the case given I read thread after thread and post after post that there is only ONE church.... and the oldest church, the most member-ed church... This is not equalizing outcomes.
Sperm cells are a tiny fraction of semen. Sperm cells are readily reabsorbed by the body. It is not the buildup of sperm which creates sexual desire, but that of seminal fluid from the seminal vesicles and prostate, which is strongly influenced by stimulation, either physical or mental. No one ever died from sexual abstinence.
You wrote:
“One question I have: Are priests allowed or encouraged to masturbate?’
No. No one is. Masturbation is sinful. Protestants generally allow it much like they allow contraception and other sinful sexual practices. Still, some Protestants believe the truth instead: http://www.religioustolerance.org/masturba6.htm
I am not sure about that. Do you have a link?
I was aware nocturnal emissions are primarily the body’s mean’s of emptying the epididymis (no semen stored here).
Retained sperm increases testicular cancer risks.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3072021.stm
Not an expert, but I think eunuchs can't be priests.
i do know that sperm cells are a tiny fraction of semen, that it is the buildup of the other constituents which increases desire for release, and that those other constituents are secreted in response to sexual desire or fantasies, which may be unconscious (e.g. dreams). I think most males are intuitively aware of this; ie. thinking about sex will increase secretion and therefore desire. I have read links on this, but don’t know of them offhand.
I guess the author wasn’t paying attention when Pope Benedict XVI was first elevated. He said that he wanted to re-evangelize Europe, because the Church had become unimportant to Catholics on the continent.
The NYSlimes should also be looking into the secular teachers. The DoE states the rate is beyond 10% but they won’t - of course as they get funded by the foundations who want us gone.
Reference?
Somebody on a message board like this once claimed that lack of sexual release in Catholic priests caused prostate cancer. I looked up the stats and found that Catholic priests had a slightly (very slightly) lower risk of prostate cancer than the general male population.
No sexual activity outside of licit marital intercourse open to the transmission of life is permitted by the moral law, therefore: no.
And, if not, does the Catholic church have any priests that have had their testicles removed to help further curb desire?
That would be the sin of mutilation, which is also objectively gravely evil.
Already posted. See #30.
The priests I’ve met in recent years don’t strike me as straight or gay but just terribly confused. And (this is just me talking) it seems like people who are sexually confused might find some comfort in a rule that makes the decision for them.
It seems like when I was a kid, all the priests were big Irish men who looked like longshoremen. Now, unless they come from overseas, they are all small and soft.
The explanation begins with the fact that so few Catholics attend Church, not with priestly celibacy. Germany is a nation of non-Christians or indifferent Christians. It is “sexually liberated,” meaning that it is pagan. Letting priests marry will solve nothing. Anglican priests marry, yet England is more pagan every year.
Something in what you say. Not big necessarily, but physically tough. I had a priest who hung out a lot at the K of C hall, and he like to mow the lawn—to pay for his beer her said. He would have his shirt off in the Texas sun and he looked like a welterweight boxer, complete with broken nose. Said he got it as a kid fighting on the street.
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