Why is incest wrong?

Question

I don't want to get with my mother or sister, or brother or anything?
But, socially, why is it wrong?
Of course it messes up the gene pool, but should that alone prevent you from being in love with your sister?
Doesn't the idea of it being wrong come from religion or social rules that have just come about over time?
If you don't have those religious beliefs or value society's judgment call would there be anything wrong with it?
The Egyptians practiced it, as well as many other royals.
What's your opinion?

Answer 1

Well, firstly, from a genetic perspective, as many have mentioned, very similar gene interactions can often result in a mutation. Also, if there's a disease in the family, and then in-breeding occurs, don't you think it would increase the chances that incestuous members are now at a much higher risk b/c of a series of intermarriages? The spread of incest could possibly wipe out whole groups of people b/c of spread of disease!
What's so profoundly wonderful about us, human beings is that we want and love diversity. We don't want everything to be the same. We don't want to mate with someone who looks exactly like us or very similar to us! If we have a big nose, we want someone with a small nose, if we have thin lips, we want someone with thick lips etc. We naturally crave exposure to differences.
And yes, Freud coined a term for having feelings for a parent of the opposite sex; Oedipus Complex. There must have been a reason why this was socially unacceptable. Why do you think it would be dangerous for a child to be attracted to their parents? Because they're in a position of authority. If parent-child relationships were condoned, don't you think it would make it easier for pedophiles, and molesters to rationalize their choices? Also, what about your mom or dad then? That's no longer incest only, but also adultrey. Or again, your older brother or sister have baby-sitting rights, which also puts them into a position of authority over you. Don't you think it's dangerous to allow this, because it would be so easy to abuse their power? For example, they could manipulate you into having a relationship with them. Did you ever watch that episode of Dr. Phil, where the brother was molesting his 4 year old sister, or the 6 year old that was molested by her grandfather? Those children were not old enough to make this decision, and despite laws being there, these men committed this crime. Now think if incest was condoned? How much easier would it be for these men to rationalize their choices?
It's too dangerous to form relationships with people you are raised with. Before you ever become acquainted with sexuality, you go through a dormant stage. A stage where you are asexual. Allowing incest, would probably expose you to sexual behaviour more easily and earlier, b/c people can rationalize their behaviour, and this would probably mess you up sexually.
Also it would also confuse your idea about relationships and what they're supposed to mean. We have feelings and labels associated with each type of relationship, and what is allowed in each. We would become very confused about boundaries as well. In every relationship, we need to have limits to how far we can go. We also need rules of intimacy. That's why we distinctly define our relationships, so that can guide our rules of intimacy. Questions like: 1) How do you define intimacy? 2) How close it too close? 3) What type of intimacy is allowed in this relationship, etc.
So ultimately, Identity confusion, lack of boundaries, inability to maintain healthy adult relationships, confusing our roles in all our relationships, possiblity of abuse of power by authority, parental infidelity, and genetic mutations would all be valid reasons not to take part in incestuous relationships.
If you want to talk more about it or have any questions, please don't hesitate to message me. ^-^

Answer 2

What kind of a question is that? It is wrong by instinct. Confirmed by society. Have you looked at what happened to the Egyptians royal structure because of this kind of stupidity? Do you know how many Royal brats have become a royal pain in the common mans life because of the mixed up gene pool? They pissed in their own pool by the way, that has a lot to do with the royal disadvantage.

Answer 3

It will create a horrible and universal mess. Imagine brothers hating each other and fighting over their sisters for example. Also apart from religion and social values, wouldn't this distort the simplest human feelings of mothers' or fathers' love for their sons and daughters, etc?!

Yes some nations like Ancient Egyptians (royalists) practiced it... but it doesn't mean it's right. this is not a criteria to measure things with... is it?

Answer 4

We usually do not like it because emotions cause most people to have what is called a "moral judgment". We usually do not have sexual desires to people we are raised with. Also I think it is an inborn reaction since we know that children from such unions can be born with genetic issues. Most people even if you know it or not, do decide our partners based on who we think can give us strong, healthy children. That is one reason why most experts think that most men like women with curves, and most women like broad shoulders. Even most animals such as primates do not partner with close relatives, and will leave the safety of their group to find a mate. Incest could be a gender issue as well. Men are more likely to be the perpetrators of incest than are women, because men, unfortunately, can be more indiscriminate in their sexual promiscuity. And some people might not feel any moral inhibition against incest because they suffer from a psychopathic poverty of moral emotions. In essence I do believe it is a cultural thing. But interestingly enough I read a study they did in Asia where they took children from different households and raised them as brother and sister. Now without being told they were really brother and sister when they became of age to marry, they were told to choose their wife, or husband, from one of the others they were raised with. Not one of them would consent to this. So is it a cultural thing? Or is this some inborn idea that we develop as being taboo when we get older? The answer is we really do not know.

Answer 5

you already know the answer: "survival instinct" ever since the beginning of humanity, cultures have passed on this taboo as a key factor to our survival. religion has nothing to do with it. The taboo is as old as humanity. it is in a way part of our genetic make-up. that's what makes it "wrong." it is in a way beyond us. As far as the example of the Egyptians is concerned, all i can say is this: some cultures indeed have rituals where incest is addressed (I don't know about Egypt and if that's what you are referring to). But the fact that it is officially addressed makes the exact same act a taboo in one society, a "rite of passage" in another. If you grow up in a culture that "taboos" incest and you experience incest, you will obviously have great difficulties in dealing with it as you grow up where if you are in a culture that "ritualizes" the act, it will simply be part of growing up. it is not about the act itself, it is about how it is interpreted. There is a very thin line between the profane and the sacred. The line separating the profane and the sacred of incest is even thinner.

Now the way our culture has been dealing with it does obviously need revision when we look at the statistics between drug abuse and sexual abused children.

Answer 6

Yes the royals and eqyptians did it so that they could keep the blood of future generations pure of 'royal' blood. However discoveries have shown that lots of the children were deformed and I guess over time that led to it being unexceptable not just because its wrong but because it was endangering peoples health.

If you've ever seen the royal families family tree then you'll undersand that not only is it wrong but it's just too damn confusing eg: Dear aunty/mother/grandma/sister

Just remember if the family tree had just one branch then it will most likely fall to the ground and die...Get my drift?

Answer 7

Why do you think religions decided it's wrong? Probably because it messes up the gene pool (like you said) and they realized this. The easiest way to keep people from doing it without trying to figure out what DNA was 1000 years ago, was to tell people god condemned it.

Answer 8

yeahh no idea thats a good quesiton
its just wroonnng is all i know.
and it seems wrong.
the royals practiced it just to keep all their wealth and power within the one family, Most of them didnt actaully love their sister etc the marriages were political.

Answer 9

It's not natural to want to make love to your sister or your brother!
It wasn't acceptable in the days of the bible,and it's not acceptable now.

Some things need no explanation.Incest and Polygamy is just wrong.

Answer 10

"reproduction resulting from sex between family members would break down the kinship system and hopelessly confuse human relations"