>...I don't see why a problem that's widespread now would have been
>any less so in an earlier age...
Pervasive chemical pollution of food supply and much of the water supply--particularly estrogen-mimicking chemicals.
>...perhaps there is a relationship between celibacy/disfunction and
>wisdom/enlightenment that bears further examination, cause
>notwithstanding.
In relation to "enlightenment," celibacy (in the sense of *continence*) and disfunction are opposites. The essential Buddhist traditions in this matter are those that survived mainly in Tibet (Tantric Buddhism) and, to some extent in China (under Taoist influence). The concept is that basic vital energies, thanks to very rigorous physical and mental discipline, are to be transmuted into "higher" forms of *spiritual* energy, whose right use would lead to an "enlightenment" event but whose misuse would have disastrous consequences. In some variants this right use takes place in a ritualized form of sexual intercourse while in others strict abstinence must be maintained by the aspiring meditator. Similar doctrines are practised by esoteric Hindu and Islamic (Sufi) schools.
Shane Mage
"Mortals immortals, immortals mortals,
living their deaths, dying their lives"
Herakleitos of Ephesos, fr. 62