Priest-nun marriage

[Corrosion of conformity]

Priests can't marry because they have to dedicate all of their time and love to God, it's part of the catholic religion.

[milod]

By the way... this thread really got me thinking about my own upbringing.

 

When my Dad was a car and Harley dealer, we lived from my age 4 to my age 14 in the same house and, of course, to me that seemed at the time to have been forever.

 

In one of the storage closets under the eaves was an old guitar long tossed that he'd played as a kid. Apparently he wasn't terribly good at it or he would have kept it; later he got a baritone uke he enjoyed strumming on - some time after I went about half nuts about guitar playing. Too nuts about guitar playing, probably.

 

Anyway, when I was nearing 14 he sold the car and Harley dealership and went back to college, then a religious seminary to become the clergyman he'd felt called to be since serving overseas in WWII.

 

But even with the backwards collar as an Anglican priest, he was still the same guy I remembered riding a Harley down the street standing up on the seat and such or singing pop music duets with my Mom.

 

Of course, to a young male under 30, the Harley image was a lot more attractive than a backwards collar. I missed the mentoring on engine reassembly and such, but again, he was the same guy. Even had, from his military background, a joke or two I'd be embarrassed to mention here and yet pointed out interesting aspects of the human condition. Oh, yeah, he also taught a college philosophy class or two.

 

In fact, in his 50s he became a fully state qualified reserve police officer and apparently surprised at least one of the state trainers with a bit of martial arts and firearms skills. Why? I think gave him an excuse to keep going to high school and college sports contests and to see parades up close and personal. He also served as police chaplain because, let's face it, among other things he was a lot more qualified than most to knock on Mrs. Jones' door to deliver the sad news that her child was dead in a car wreck. He took that as a sad, but needed duty.

 

One thing I love about Belle Fourche is that we have a wide variety of churches - none of which I attend, btw, probably from some vestige of teen rebellion some 45 years later and perhaps more than a bit of getting "into" zen - that all work together to feed the hungry and care for those who need care. Even the fundamentalists here may warn against drunkenness, but recognize that if a person doesn't have a chemical weakness for it, some drinks are part of life in "cowboy country." And the ones I know at least are less likely to put themselves up on any sort of pedestal than the average human.

 

Some of those churches have some pretty good guitar-based "Christian" bands. I personally don't care for the music, but some are pretty darned good pickers.

 

As for Roman Catholic priests having to "dedicate all of their time and love to God," none I've known and have counted at times among my closer friends have made any claim to that - and they enjoyed good company and some sort of hobby or other interest as much as anyone. Heck, a couple played guitar half decently and did the folky-rocky thing as part of their recognition they were human beings, regardless of calling.

 

So... believe me, clergy are a mixed bag of folks. I count several clergy here as good friends, and I believe they consider me such even if I don't partake of their Sunday services.

 

Oh, and RE: Roman Catholic priests. Not one I've known had cut themselves off from their parents, siblings or most other family members. Seriously taking "holy orders" didn't kill close family relationships and all those relationships mean to all of us.

 

Just a thought.