Celibacy refers to a state of being unmarried and, therefore, sexually abstinent, usually in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, the term is applied only to those for whom the unmarried state is the result of a sacred vow, act of renunciation, or religious conviction. Celibacy has existed in one form or another throughout history and in virtually all the major religions of the world.
Read more about Celibacy: Etymology, Abstinence and Celibacy, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Brahma Kumaris, Islamic Perspective, Meher Baba, Secular
Famous quotes containing the word celibacy:
“Marriage has many pains, but celibacy has no pleasures.”
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)
“Christianity as an organized religion has not always had a harmonious relationship with the family. Unlike Judaism, it kept almost no rituals that took place in private homes. The esteem that monasticism and priestly celibacy enjoyed implied a denigration of marriage and parenthood.”
—Beatrice Gottlieb, U.S. historian. The Family in the Western World from the Black Death to the Industrial Age, ch. 12, Oxford University Press (1993)