Chastity is another central tenet of the Jesuit lifestyle, and Martin explains its benefits in his book.
“Chastity is not for everyone and most people tend to define it negatively,” he says. “I.e., chastity means not having sex. But I define it positively, and I say that chastity means loving many people very deeply and very freely. And people feel free with a person who’s chaste, really. Because they know that you’re not being friends with them or being close to them for sex.”
But celibacy has taken a hit in recent years, as reports of priests sexually assaulting children came out. Martin says he doesn’t see a connection between the two.
“I would say that that’s more related to people who are psychologically unhealthy and also, bishops who have moved priests around ”” that’s not directly related to chastity,” Martin says. “I don’t think ”” celibacy and chastity do not cause pedophilia. No more than ”” most sexual abuse goes on in families, no more than marriage causes sexual abuse.”
Caught this one by podcast in the morning run. Listen to it all (about 6 1/4 minutes)–KSH.
“chastity means not having sex”
Um, that is one definition, but not the primary one.
1 : the quality or state of being chaste: as a : abstention from unlawful sexual intercourse b : abstention from all sexual intercourse c : purity in conduct and intention d : restraint and simplicity in design or expression
2 : personal integrity
My wife and I have been chaste in our 18 year marriage and we have 3 children…just no affairs. Chastity is a knightly virtue and a nightly virtue. The marriage bed is undefiled, and St. Paul admonishes believers not to withold physical love from one another within marriage. The non-Christian world seems intent on portraying all Christians as drones when the fact is, we simply keep our passions within our marriages as an ideal.
So, rage on and mock the Christians oh mad world, and pass diseases and heartache as you may, bound in the chains of illicit sin. The day of reckoning approaches. I will continue to cherish my most beloved wife and we two, with God in our marriage, shall continue happily until the end of our days, chaste and deeply, passionately, gloriously in love with one another. Tra-la!
There’s a hilarious passage on Fleming Rutledge’s blog where she announces that she’s programmed NPR’s number into her cell phone against the times that she’s driving and they start out with a story on Christianity, so she can safely pull over, place a call, and challenge it (especially if there’s an interview with Karen Armstrong). Predictably, the interviewer lumbers through all the stock “questions”, apparently without even the glimmer of a notion that what seems obvious to him can also be critically questioned. God bless Fr. Martin for his patience; but I suppose in my case the interview worked, because I’m going to buy the book.