And another thing, the idea that celibacy is what's making these priests do these things is a flat out LIE. Married men molest kids too. It's not about sex, it's about getting enjoyment from hurting others.
Celibacy unfortunately has a bad rap in evangelical culture. Evangelicals bemoan our sexualized culture and it makes me want to say, "You do the same thing, just in a different way." A.K.A. Marriage and kids. The fact that Jesus and Paul would not be able to get the senior pastor position simply because they weren't married should make us pause.
Besides, it's an unfortunate fact of life, but not everyone will be married, either by choice or by circumstance. While I don't agree with gay marriage, I believe it could serve as a wakeup call to the church. Why do gays want to get married? They want to have someone to love and someone to love them. The big crisis we're facing is not that gays can now get married. It's that people are no longer finding relationship satisfaction apart from marriage and romance.
It's especially tough for men. Fathers tend to stop being physically affectionate with their daughters when they reach puberty, 'cause our society is very suspicious of older men being around teenage girls, even if they are related. Every affectionate touch between anyone now has to "mean" something. Parents are now questioning the role of affectionate touch in relating to their own children. Clearly, something isn't right.
It's funny because before the 20th century, there was concern for not loving your spouse too little, but loving them too much. It was considered dangerously anti-social to be too emotionally attached to one's spouse. Men and women formed deep friendships outside their marriage, and when couples started going on honeymoons in the 19th century, they took their families with them.
But of course, nowadays, even talking fondly about someone of the same sex can be seen as evidence of being gay.
Marriage cannot possibly fulfill all your relationship needs. So why do we keep acting like it does? It's funny that with all the focus in evangelical churches on marriage, our marriages aren't any better. In fact, they're slightly worse. Moreover, single people tend to be treated not as family or human beings, but as threats. For the record, if a married person is going to cheat, it's more likely going to be with another married person than a single person.
Celibacy and friendship in the Bible are esteemed as much as marriage. Why can't we do the same? Celibacy shouldn't have to carry a greater sacrifice than giving up sex. But today, in our incredibly mobile and hyper-individualistic society, more often than not, it does.
It's ironic that whereas marriage is esteemed nowadays while celibacy is not, in the early days of the church, it was actually the opposite. Celibacy was seen as a higher, holier calling than marriage, which, while not a sin, was seen as giving into the flesh.
Have you ever noticed that there are a lot more early church saints who weren't married than those who were? And many of these unmarried saints were women? Why is this so significant?
In the ancient world, marriage was the holy grail, the only thing to guarantee that your line would continue. And it was only there to provide legitimate heirs. Other than that, people slept around, but I digress.
Marriage and family in the ancient world were of ultimate significance. The most important thing to a person's life. The idea that anyone, especially a woman, would choose to forego marriage, would've been seen as not only betraying your family but your country. It was inconceivable.