Consecrated Virginity in the Rotten Clergy City

I am furious right now.

One of the “vocations” in the Roman Catholic Church (which is neither Catholic nor Church, and I cannot make a conclusive statement about the matter of whether it is Roman) is that of Consecrated Virginity. That does not bother me. It bothers a lot of people, and I can see why it bothers some of them, since the Roman Catholic Church also teaches that virginity is a superior state of life to marriage and there is something dirty about sexual pleasure. I know some Roman Catholics will quibble on that one, but that’s really what those laws about not having sex for pleasure and being very careful to make sure that one’s sex always allows the possibility of conception (assuming both partners are fertile) comes out to, and coupled with a teaching in St. Augustine’s writings that original sin is passed on through sexual pleasure it just leaves a very bad taste. Yes, I know that’s not dogma, but it’s bad enough it’s there at all and not openly repudiated.

But what currently upsets me about the Roman Catholic tradition of Consecrated Virginity is the fact that the prospective Consecrated Virgin must be vetted for her vocation by the bishop, “consecrated” by him, and then overseen by the bishop of her diocese. This is disgusting and abhorrent. It is blasphemy. No, I am not a heretic hunter. People have a right, as far as my activities or the activities of any other creature are concerned, to believe whatever disgusting garbage they want to, and when I say that something is disgusting garbage or blasphemy, I do not even mean that all people who believe it – or at least think they do, maybe even strongly enough to die for it – are blasphemers or slur their character in any other way. People believe things for lots of different reasons, and I have no business judging them.

But that in no way exonerates or pardons the beliefs when they are purely disgusting. And one group of people whose characters I am willing to attack are those who try to teach others that they are necessary in order to relate to the Eternal One, the One who is nearer to our soul than the air we breathe or the thoughts we think, the spark in every lightning, the fire in every sun, the vitality of the air, the power within all, Who Knows and Who Is, Who Loves in every love.

And that is what the Roman Catholic Church (which from now on I will refer to as the RCC since, while RCC can stand for Roman Catholic Church, which it is not, it can also stand for Rotten Clergy City, which is at least more appropriate – yes, I am very, very angry) teaches in a great many ways, including its tradition of Consecrated Virginity. I am utterly disgusted by it. It is a blasphemy and an insult on Jesus, and it is an attempt to harm and hurt His children.

Jesus is everything we need. He is Priest and God and Sacrifice. If we need someone to offer us to the Eternal One, He is the High Priest. He accepts, He offers, He is.

And I am just furious. No one should believe that they need bishops or priests or whatever it is in order to offer themselves to Jesus in whatever way they feel is appropriate for them or to help them determine and decide what way is right for them! We don’t live in isolation, and friends can sometimes help us, but this vileness is something else altogether!

Don’t let anyone tell you what is the best way for you to relate to the One Who Knows and Who Is. Don’t let anyone tell you how you may or may not love. Don’t let anyone tell you what is or isn’t a better way to live or to love. Don’t let anyone tell you that, unless you come to them or they deem you worthy or whatever it is, you cannot be who you are to the hilt or live and love to the fullness of your being.

Please, for the sake of all that is holy, do not let anyone ever tell you that they are holier than you are or that their vocation is holier than yours. There may be holiness, but there is no such thing as holier! There is only being whole – being everything you are in your deepest being, not being everything someone else is.

Only the One Who Knows can know who you are better than you do. Never another creature, no matter how much that creature claims to speak or act in His place. He is the One Who Lives and does not need anyone to speak for Him. Never believe anything against the testimony of your heart and conscience. Never believe anything on the word of another.