Men in Black - Priesthood parallel

Game of Thrones has been called anything but Christian, let alone Catholic. Many people have stood against it as a blatantly moral wrong to read or even discuss the books or the tv show. As a Catholic I find this very distressing, and although I can see the reason behind it, as an English major I can also see the value of the literature as well as very strong parallels to Christianity and Catholicism. Yes, people do bad things, but that is what we as humans do, and Game of Thrones more than any other series shows the result of humanity's sins which is beheading, unfaithfulness, and war. Game of Thrones does not confirm that moral ignorance is right, but rather presents a thesis, a situation, and shows where character's choices lead. It is difficult for me to hate Game of Thrones just because of the incredible detail and genius that is needed to undergo the task of creating this world. We should not discredit someone's genius simply because they, like us, are sinners.

That being said, I find that the Night's Watch remind me very much of the priesthood. Both contain the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. It is found in the oath all men of the wall swear to:

 "Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come."(Game of Thrones, 522).

Reading these words, I cannot help but think of our priests. They too have no lands, they too live in humility and do not strive for personal glory, they too serve the people of the church until their final breath. They are the swords in the darkness; They fight against the darkness of sin daily and without pause. 

It can also been seen in the duties of the men in black, they fight a supernatural threat of the wights, the giants, the mammoths, all the things of mythology that everyone in King's Landing believes are dead. It is interesting that all the nightly terrors occur in the cold. In Dante's Inferno, the lowest level of hell where Satan dwells is ice cold. Satan is continually flapping his wings, trying to fly farther away from God, but the wind freezes the lake and traps him. People think the devil comes with fire, but no he comes in the cold of night, just like the wights, quietly waiting out the day to finally infiltrate the night and destroy all things living and good. The Night's Watch knows that the threats of cold and darkness are real, but what happened to Ser Alliser Thorne when he brought the wights frozen arm back to King's Landing, and it had melted: the whole court mocked him and claimed he made up tales. It is just as true today with our priests, who give proof that God is real, and that the devil we must daily fight is real. People mock them and claim that the devil is long dead, and that he is no serious threat. Their hearts have melted the wight's arm, and shut out the warning, for they live in warmth and pleasure what do they know of cold? 

The words of the Starks are the words of the North. Winter is Coming.  "'Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.'" (Matthew 25:13).