Why is incest something so bad?

Question

I have a friend whose parents are first cousins and he is completely normal and he has a sister who is completely normal too and pretty smart!. She actually learned to play the piano when she was like 5. So why do people usually say that incest is an unforgiven sin and all that? What about if your parents were first cousins, would you guys say the same?

Answer 1

Simply stated, the bible doesn't forbid 1st cousins to marry. The only reason that they (scientists) suggest that you don't marry cousins is b/c there is greater chance of abnormalities to the offspring. I have known several first cousins to marry and there was nothing wrong with their children. It is strictly forbidden to marry siblings, mother, father, aunts, uncles, etc. Cousins are home free!!!

Answer 2

Cousins marrying is not a big problem, especially if there is not much history of birth defects or other genetic trouble in the family.
Incest itself - when people inside the same family have sex - is not necessarily wrong either, if consensual and no harm is being done. However, there are so many problems that have to be overcome, like it's against the law, the fact that incest is usually selfish rape of a minor, family relationship roles get disrupted, living in an atmosphere of fear about getting discovered, feeling isolated from society or friends and a normal social life, constant guilt feelings, etc.
There are two reasons societies are against incest. There is a slightly elevated risk (approximately 7%) of recessive genes in the family causing abnormalities in any offspring. If the genes aren't there, incest doesn't cause defects. Also, there is the natural instinct called the Westermarck Effect, which is the rejection as a sex partner of anybody living close when you were a young child. Basically, if a person was living with you from the time you were born up to about age six, the natural instinct in humans is to avoid sex with them. It doesn't work very well because, as a species, humans aren't in touch with our instincts too much, but it is the main reason behind all the taboos and laws and dispproval about incest.

Answer 3

Incest is bad because family is supposed to be a safe place for an individual. Families protect each other and set boundaries so that each person feels safe.
I was used by my oldest brother when he would come home from a date with his virgin gf. I was his "other Saturday night date" and I still tremble at the some memories. I remember never feeling safe, and my bed shaking as he came into the driveway. I would hide in the closet and under the bed, and he would find me. Once he carried me downstairs onto the couch, and the neighbor boys had paid to watch! I could not escape, and when I told my parents, hysterical that this was going on for such a long time, I was blamed. "It's because you are a girl," I was told. So my life centered around: I was not good enough to protect, being a girl was not OK, anything that happened was my fault, and so on. When people would say how lucky I was to have older brothers, I cried inside. When my sister-in-law said it was a shame I wasn't a virgin like she was when she married my brother, I wanted to scream "He took my virginity." But, alas, I couldn't speak up, because I had been trained that everything was my fault.

It took going to college, getting a degree and telling my brother that I remember every thing he had done (he denied it all, of course) and standing up to him before I could become a real person with rights. My twin brother stopped the abuse, by finding the other two brothers raping me, and it stopped. But the scars remain.

I use these scars to help others survive. I teach women that we have rights, and that just because a man has a penis, doesn't mean he is a God. I encourage men who have loved ones who have been incested to speak up and stand beside the damaged one, not sneak away to avoid conflict.

What is wrong with incest? What is right about it? Aren't there enough people in the world that one has to stay in their own family circle? Only animals do that!!!!!!!

Answer 4

I too know of a family who have parents that are first cousins. A few of the children turned out "normal" and a few of them did not. I think it can happen either way. However, I don't think this makes for a good reason as to why it should be acceptable to have relations with a blood relative. Family is family and we aren't supposed to look at our family and feel a sexual attraction. Also, where does it stop? A first cousin is not all that much of a distant relation and most people view their cousins on a more friendly (less bickering) sibling level.

Before you reason that the first people on earth procreated with relatives, very closesly related, remember that they were closer to perfection than what we are. Plus, we have other options...after all we aren't dealing with a low population.

If these were my relatives or parents then I would find it no more acceptable. However, it doesn't mean that people should be hateful either and no one would find me behaving that way.

Answer 5

The taboo hasn't always been there in western cultures, and o f course marrying cousins is fine in other ethnic groups worldwide. There are many concerns about genetic diversity which is lowered when relatives procreate. Recessive traits can be exposed that can lead to problems with the health of the offsping of "inbred" couples. These deformities and problems have been spotted over the centuries and contributed to the taboo and attribution of "unforgiven sin" etc.

Answer 6

well marrrying a cousin isnt incest. its legal. incest is marrying a sister, brother or parent. its mostly for medical reasons. if you share many similar genes, you are born with disorders and mutations. im not going to go into how because that would take up most of this page. marrying a first cousin is legal and its not considered incest, in fact, it was quite common to marry cousins for a long time, up until the 20th century id say

Answer 7

Because in order for the species to survive (humanity), it's best to mix genes from as a diverse a pool as possible, that way the surviving population will be more resilient. Hence, evolution has encoded into our unconscious a natural taboo regarding incest.

Now, in some situations (like when the pioneers were in remote regions isolated from the rest of the world and only family was available for mating purposes), the other evolutionary instinct of preservation -reproduction- wins over , but that's usually only temporary and as soon as there are other lineages to draw partners from, incest returns to its normal status of taboo.

Answer 8

Yes, I would say the same thing. The bible says incest is wrong, plus people who share the same blood,should not reproduce. I too know someone who had children out of incest (they were first cousins) and all of their children have problems. The problems vary from behavioral, hearing, and liver problems.

Answer 9

I guess that 'incest' really isnt "wrong", its more like weird and not really a popular thing to do. Some people may find it disgusting and etc stuff like that i personally would think its weird because im really close to alot of my first cousins so for 2 of them to get "married" would be just wrong.

Answer 10

I don't really care about incest. It's not a big deal. If you love someone, you love someone. Nothing you can do there to change it. I guess many people condemn it is because no one else is doing it so it's not "normal" but what exactly is normal anyway. Just cuz someone said this is normal doesnt mean it's right! Who set these rule anyway?!