Is there anything wrong to marry your cousin?

Saint

Valued Senior Member
Let's say u are a man, in chinese society, u can not marry the daughter of the sister/brother of your mother or father, they think this is INCEST.
But i think to the contrary, to avoid defect in offspring, just don't get pregnant, there is nothing wrong in the marriage.
 
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I'm sure they do see it that way in the chinese culture.....or in the american culture. However, maybe in other cultures it is a widely accepted practice. I mean really, if you come from a huge family in a small town, your odds of meeting someone that isn't family could be very poor. So why pick up someone you don't know who could be diseased when you have the safety net of marrying your cousin who you know and trust?

I say the same thing, don't get knocked up if you marry the cousin.
 
Whilsty I umderstand the general thrust of the question. May be it is worth pointing out that marriage in itself is not incest but consumation of that marriage sexually would be considered so.

To have a marriage that does not involve sex, could never be considered as incest. yes?

The reason for this issue of incest is I think quite a bit more complicated than just sex but I would think by definition it must include sex.

I have a feeling that the main reason for incest being immoral is not just about having genetic problems with offspring but also to restrain the sexual abuse of children by relatives of that child who places a familly trust in those relatives.
As the child becomes an adult it becomes more of a gentics issue than a protection issue.

One could ask the question for example:
Why is the act of sex between an adult mother and an adult son [of that mother] so morally wrong?

The answer, I bet would show a labyrynth of contradictions and psyhological paradox. No matter how it is analysed and assessed it will always feel "just wrong". Maybe this is due to a history of moral conditioning or maybe it is actually our genetics having a say. Our genetics generating a general sense of repulsion to idea which we have intuitively agreed with and set up the morallity to support it.
just thoughts.........
 
Actually, in Muslim/Hindu cultures, the marrying of ones cousin is extremely common.

And contrary to popular opinion, I've read that there is no great danger of genetic
deformation for the offspring of cousin marriages.
 
though I have to confess being a fan of Heinlein who was always a bit cavalier towards incest.

the fact remains that there is not much more danger from genetic abnormalities
than there is in a normal couple having a child.

(Cleopatra was the product of 8 generations of brother-sister unions)
 
saint, you are getting two predictable. I read the title of the thread and already knew who posted it. mix it up a bit, try discussing something in sci/tech.
 
my parents told me it is not right to marry cousins, most people in malaysia accept this norm.
 
mountainhare said:
Eh, the royal familes of Europe had a habit of marrying blood relatives. If they can do it, why not the average citizen?

And because of that, Haemophilia was largely present in the entire royal line.

Haemophilia is not caused by incest. It is a genetic disease, caused by a faulty gene, but carriers and sufferers are not necessarily the products of close-family unions. But once inbred, it can be propogated to almost a sure inheritance by every offspring in onset of the disease. The disease Tay-Sachs was also propogated through an incestual bloodline, and since many are still carriers, incestuous marriages are often frowned upon.

In fact, haemophilia that affected Alexei of Russia came from his connection to the British Royal Family. Queen Victoria was a carrier of the disease, and transmitted it to her son Prince Leopold who died of it, and two of her daughters were also carriers. One daughter Princess Alice, mother of Tsarina Alexandra, was responsible for transmitting it into the Russian Royal Family. And Princess Beatrice, King Juan Carlos's great grandmother, transmitted it to the Spanish Royal Family. Queen Sofia is also related to Queen Victoria through her descent from the Greek Royal Family, she too is a haemophilia carrier.
 
Kotoko:
And because of that, Haemophilia was largely present in the entire royal line.
Who ever said anything about vaginal sex, or pregnancy? Go fly away on your jetpack, Kotoko. You haven't a clue.
 
Saint said:
Let's say u are a man, in chinese society, u can not marry the daughter of the sister/brother of your mother or father, they think this is INCEST.
But i think to the contrary, to avoid defect in offspring, just don't get pregnant, there is nothing wrong in the marriage.
We're all the same species, anyway. Fuck it (pun intended).
 
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