2 ms·
Even removing all contact with women isn't new.
by Lawtonfogle 11y ago
Even removing all contact with women isn't new.
- Jtsummers 11y agoNo. But it is extreme, and in the modern era in western countries (where these groups seem to be) really, really hard to pull off. I've been to Catholic monasteries in the US, plenty of women around most of them. Either working in the gift shops, volunteering with tasks needed around the monastery (often, the monks are aging and needing more help these days than in earlier eras). A totally cloistered existence is possible, but you're making a major sacrifice. Without a religious motivation I'm having a hard time imagining anyone making that commitment.
- dragonwriter 11y ago> Without a religious motivation I'm having a hard time imagining anyone making that commitment. As I understand, even the religious groups (including Catholic cloistered religious, which as you note most orders are not) that take isolation to more extreme levels -- of both genders -- tend to do a lot of work to filter out people whose motivations are not religious, so I don't think that a religious motivation is all that essential to choosing such a lifestyle (the typical non-religious motivations may turn out to usually be insufficient to staying with that choice, though...)