Is Dumbledore Gay? Depends on Definitions of ?Is? and ?Gay?

[slytherin_jenn]

> Tonks:
> There is the idea that to reach a higher state of spiritual 
> development, or in DD’s case, a higher state of Magical development, 
> one must turn from the things of the flesh. This is not my idea; I 
> am simply passing on the teaching of the mystical component of most 
> world religions. Christian monks and nuns are celibate. Buddhist 
> monks are celibate, etc. There is a reason for this and it does have 
> to do with increasing the degree of ‘spiritual perfection’ by 
> turning the mind from the things of the world.  The author of the 
> article I was referring to said the same thing in reference to all 
> great Wizards. The same can be said about 99% of the worlds greatest 
> spiritual leaders and Saints. I didn’t make this idea up. It is a 
> classic teaching of many religions. 


Celoneth:
But these are all spiritual concepts that don't translate that purely
into real life. In real life, many become monks, or nuns for purely
wordly reasons. In early times, people made the choice because it was
the only way to get a decent education if one was lower class, for
women it was the only way out of marriage and it was a way for a lot
of gay people to be able to live free of persecution. Now people join
for family honour, or a way to escape poverty as well as spiritual
reasons. Neither is celibacy a requirement for spiritual leadership -
its not taught or expected in Islam, Judaism, Daoism, many branches of
Buddhism  and many other religions. 

Where there is celibacy, its also tied to general asceticism -
poverty, fasting, etc. - a belief that denying oneself worldly wants
and needs to bring them to enlightenment that's far more encompassing
than just celibacy. There's no indication in anything that JKR has
written that asceticism is a way to enhance one's magical abilities.
Even if there is, there's no indication that DD wasn't celibate - the
only statement is that he was gay/attracted to GG - certainly monks do
not lose their human nature upon becoming monks, its a process that
takes years and even then, they remain human with all human wants and
needs. I'm sure that monks on a hunger strike become hungry, just as
I'm sure that they have attractions to others - their own personal
beliefs lead them to choose them to deny those feelings in their quest
for enlightenment. Perhaps when they're years into their life as
monks, then they may be able to deny those feelings but its not
something that should be expected of a new, young monk - nor something
that can be expected of a 17-18 year old wizard who doesn't know that
he's going to become a near-god figure to so many, nor makes any
conscious choice to live an ascetic lifestyle at that point.
Celoneth