by Pippa Cole

Created on: June 06, 2007

The Bible states that a man should leave his mother and father and be united with his wife. There have been many major Biblical characters who have been married. Why, then, is there this belief that abstinence and a decision not to marry is fitting for a religious leader? The idea that a man cannot love both his wife and his God seems ridiculous. They spiritual love that one feels for a Deity and the earthly love that one feels for ones family are entirely different and the one cannot reduce the potency of the other.

Surely the idea of a married priest is better than that of an unmarried one in many cases. God loves us all like a parent, if this is so surely a priest should try to gain some understanding of what it is like to love as a parent so that he can carry out the lord's work - very difficult without a family. It must also be remembered that being married gives a priest the opportunity to see things from the female perspective. God may have created Adam first but that does not mean that Eve's take on things is not worth listening to.

Perhaps I am missing the point. Perhaps the reason that some people feel priests should not be permitted to marry is due to time. Having a wife may prevent a clergyman from performing his religious duty. How so? The love of a life-long companion ought to give one extra support and help when faced by serious dilemmas, and who will be faced with them more frequently than a priest. Yes strength can be gained from God, but sometimes the strength that He may give comes from others. There is a famous story about a man who died in a flood because he refused the help of the rescue teams saying that "God will save me". When he got to heaven he asked God why he had not saved him and God replied that he had sent a helicopter, a rescue boat and a dingy - what more did the man want? God works through other on this earth and priests need the support and love of a partner and family as much as anyone else. Who are we to deny it them?

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