The Pros and Cons of Celibacy

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[Scheherazade]

R e m i n d e r:

The OP:

This is basically a continuation of the very popular thread: Benefits of Chastity and Celibacy. It has been removed from the Religious thread so that we may consider all of the mental, physical, and spiritual advantages and disadvantages of Celibacy in a mature and accepting fashion.

What is your opinion? Is a celibate lifestyle practical? Does it improve athletic performance? Does it make one more spiritual, closer to nature?

Please keep in mind that this Forum is open to people from various age groups as well as those who come from different social, religious and cultural backgrounds.

Off-topic posts will be removed without further notice.

[The Atheist]

Rant on abstinence: If this doesn't fit into the celibacy subject or is too serious and rhetorical for a General Chat thread, then I'll delete it.


I don't buy into the whole abstinence thing at all. I live with an evangelical Christian family and my 22 year old step-sister wore one of those 'promise rings' for her mom in her teens. Not only that, but she's planning now to marry her boyfriend whom she's been dating for about four months. That's my big beef with the 'no sex before marriage' thing; it forces young adults into hasty marriages because of their natural urges and instincts. Marriage shouldn't be taken lightly and how would she know if she is even sexually compatible with this guy? Sex isn't everything in a relationship, but it's still a pretty big thing.

Bingo!

I had a short and very unsuccessful marriage myself at a very early age. My girlfriend's family utterly refused to allow her to move in with me prior to marriage, and while we still managed to have plenty of sex, the fact that we were unable to be together when we wanted caused us to marry when I was 19 and she was 17. Her parents' objections were entirely based on religious grounds.

The marriage lasted over a year!

Just.

While we're on the subject I will like to bring up one other negative side-effect of abstinence; that is, parents (especially religious parents) and schools that teach abstinence education who claim that abstinence is the only guaranteed solution to not becoming HIV-positive (which it is), but don't realize that an extremely few teens/young adults are going to be able to hold it in until marriage. And when they fail to hold it in, they practice unsafe sex because their parents/teachers didn't teach them about condoms and birth control pills, and they most likely end up with an unintended child at 17.

Which is why USA leads the world in teenage pregnancy, while extremely open, secular societies like Holland dwell at the bottom of the table.

(Sex isn't the only way to contract HIV, either.)

[soundofmusic]

Bingo!

I had a short and very unsuccessful marriage myself at a very early age. My girlfriend's family utterly refused to allow her to move in with me prior to marriage, and while we still managed to have plenty of sex, the fact that we were unable to be together when we wanted caused us to marry when I was 19 and she was 17. Her parents' objections were entirely based on religious grounds.

The marriage lasted over a year!

Just.

I suppose, had I been a parent 30 years ago, I would still have prefered my daughter or son to marry rather than live with a person. I know the year before my marriage was a crazy time where I didn't really consider my actions; marriage at 18 really made me "grow up". Of course, it also made my daughter, who was born 2 years later, legitimate and forced responsibility on both sides.
I know I joke alot about sexual issues; but, I find it amazing how many patients I take care of, and these people range from 30 to 90, have STD's and don't know it.

[The Atheist]

I suppose, had I been a parent 30 years ago, I would still have prefered my daughter or son to marry rather than live with a person.

True, things were a little different then, plus NZ was about 20 years behind the rest of the world. Overall, it didn't make any difference to me because I don't see anything special about marriage anyway. It's just another human construct that I can go with or without. Pieces of paper don't really cut it in my world.

I know I joke alot about sexual issues; but, I find it amazing how many patients I take care of, and these people range from 30 to 90, have STD's and don't know it.

People seem to be unable to accept that there needs to be a compromise between enjoyment and safety. Let's face it - we joke about condoms, but they do work, and using one is still a long way preferable to getting none!

[soundofmusic]

Overall, it didn't make any difference to me because I don't see anything special about marriage anyway. It's just another human construct that I can go with or without. Pieces of paper don't really cut it in my world.

, but they do work, and using one is still a long way preferable to getting none!

Yep, that's exactly my thought of marriage; The paper means little but it's far preferable to getting none of the property during the divorce..