Why is there such an emphasis on celibacy in nearly all religious traditions? What are the advantages, and what are the disadvantages?

As is true of many aspects of life, there are many gaps in understanding what are the true purposes of existence, and ideal roles and cultural expectations, and this is just as true with religious institutions and teachings. There are many things poorly understood and misinterpreted from the Scriptures, and many distortions of divine prophecy and wisdom that have crept into the writings and been carved in stone, in effect, down through the ages, and these misperceptions persist to the present day. There are certainly solid reasons to discourage sexual activity by young people who are just learning about who they are and not ready for a stable marriage, and the burdens and responsibilities of adulthood to develop careers and become self-sustaining, let alone be able to care for children and provide for all their needs. So there is wisdom in delaying sexual activity until enough maturation has taken place that people can act responsibly, take measures to prevent unwanted pregnancies and, if following many traditions, will seek to hold out for meeting the right one, the right person, to have a lifelong love relationship. This has become much less a standard, and it is just as well because it has caused much shaming and blaming of young people, who simply can't wait because of the strong sex drives that become quite compelling to satisfy, often at too young an age for wise engagement, and can lead to trouble of many kinds when indulged in by very young children. But for older, mature human beings there is no virtue in celibacy except when there is something blocking normal impulses in a person and they are simply living according to who they are in their physical makeup. The ideal is for sexual activity to be expressed in the context of a love relationship, for that is its purpose, to act as an incentive and reward, both, to engage lovingly with an attractive human who would make a desirable and rewarding life partner. Creator's Plan was to have men and women fall in love and have lifelong love relationships and raise families, just as has happened for the majority of the world's people. But when a love relationship has not or cannot develop, which can be for a variety of reasons, this does not mean sexual feelings need to be ignored and suppressed somehow and never be experienced. This is not realistic, or even practical for many, because of strong sexual drives that make the sexual appetites quite compelling, and with the ease to self-pleasure, will quickly become a habit because it is so rewarding, if not truly addictive. Contrary to many religious teachings, we do not see anything wrong with sexual pleasure, just for the sake of pleasure, and because this is a biologic imperative to exist and present itself, it is not wrong to find a sexual outlet so one can cope with those strong desires in a safe and healthy way. In today's culture, where there is widespread and openly accepted consensual sex by adults very quickly in a new relationship, or even casual one-night stands as an outlet, it has become the norm to not hold that against anyone as a stain on their character. Traditional religions may still idealize retaining status as a virgin prior to marriage, although this is not a divine requirement or standard but a human one. But that is not to say that we regard having sex in a cavalier fashion, with promiscuity on a high level, as being a good thing. It can lead to many problems, all of which have a karmic consequence for the individual, because controlling one's behavior and taking responsibility for one's actions and their consequences will be seen to by the Law of Karma to enact a reckoning of some kind for misdeeds, miscalculations, and misapplied energies that cause problems. So this behooves everyone starting out in life to heed the warnings and injunctions of the elders who are in a better position to fully understand the implications of the biologic imperatives and risks of sexuality.