This appears to be an eternal human urge. Learnt this fascinating nugget a couple of months ago, which I'll share again.
From Wikipedia:
The First Council of Nicaea was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea (now İznik, Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325.
This ecumenical council was the first effort to attain consensus in the church through an assembly representing all Christendom. Hosius of Corduba may have presided over its deliberations.
Its main accomplishments were settlement of the Christological issue of the divine nature of God the Son and his relationship to God the Father, the construction of the first part of the Nicene Creed, mandating uniform observance of the date of Easter, and promulgation of early canon law.
[...]
The Council promulgated twenty new church laws, called canons, (though the exact number is subject to debate), that is, unchanging rules of discipline. The twenty as listed in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers are as follows:
1. prohibition of self-castration for clergy
[...]
The fact that it's item 1 tickles me.
More detailed text and commentary here: www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf214.vii.vi.i.html
I think one thing to take away from it is that a lot of human urges are constant. It's only the surface dressing and self-justification that varies. (See also misogyny, self-harm, bullying, creation of out-groups...)