Celibacy and Star Wars

This PunditGuy post is making the rounds of the blogosphere this morning. It compares the Jedi to Catholic priests and claims that Anakin's fall, resulting greatly from his marriage to Amidala, can be seen as support for the Catholic Church's requirement that it's priests be Celibate. I doubt that is something that Lucas intended, but an interesting idea anyway. I think that Catholic Priests being celibate is a mistake that the Catholic Church has made. However, not being Catholic, it is not a huge concern of mine. The various reasons advanced for Celibacy by different cultures and individuals are interesting however. I think we can safely dismiss the notion of females being a naturally corrupting influence or sex being evil in and of itself without further comment. There are however two other interesting reasons for a Celibate or monastic life that I have seen. One, mentioned in this Anchoress post on the post above is:

Yes, Jedi are celibate, just like Catholic priests (and for that matter, Buddhist monks, who never seemto take any heat for their celibacy.) I have had many conversations re celibacy with both. A Buddhist monk once told me that celibacy was seen as means of conserving the particular “chi” or “kundalini” or force, or energy of sexuality, which is “life-giving,” in order that that energy may be “converted,” so to speak, into something higher and finer, for the benefit not only of themselves but of the world. “In that chi,” he told me, “there is healing and renewal, for the world.” Celibate catholic priests, including one in my family, have said something similar to me - that by not using their sexual energy, they are able to “offer it” for the world. Heck, for that matter, I recall once reading Al Pacino say he always went celibate when he prepared for a new role because the stored sexual energy added force to his performance. (He screams so much, lately, I wonder if he shouldn’t have sex, instead.)

I don't have much to add on this. If, or how, abstaining from sexual release allows energy to be converted to another purpose such things are a mystery to me, and not one that I intend to explore. There is however, another fully rational reason for an organization or group to promote celibacy. Loyalty. One of the best explanations of this concept can be found in A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin (I highly recommend the series if you like Fantasy and have the patience to wait for the series to be finished.) It is explained well in this summary of the novel:

Aemon tells Jon why the sworn brothers do not wed, and it is because love is the bane of honor and duty, and the Night’s Watch cannot afford men with divided loyalties. He tells Jon that a day comes in every man’s life when he must choose between his vows of duty and his loyalty toward his family.

This, I think, is the best explanation for Anakin's failure. We are designed, by God or nature, to be willing to abandon all else for the one we love when needed. For the most part, this is a good thing, but certainly one can make the argument that when a higher purpose needs to be served, when the guardianship of humanity is on the shoulders of a select group that loyalty to that group must not be challenged by anything else. Historically of course, one can make good claims that this was the primary motivation for the Catholic Church's demand for celibate priests as well. Whether the duties of a Priest are similar enough to those the Jedi Order, or the sworn brothers of the Night's Watch, is something I will not comment in detail on. Suffice it to say, I have my doubts. This need for absolute unwavering loyalty is not readily apparent in most aspects of our modern world (which is probably a good thing, as we would probably have great difficulty in finding recruits) but one can readily imagine a Secret Service agent, for example, being willing to die for the President, but being unwilling to let his wife and child die in order to protect the President. Certainly it is clear that at times at least, love is the bane of honor and duty. Anakin would agree with that.