Incestuous Marriage

[Dementuo]

So, this is a topic that was brought up last night and really caught my attention. I guess I'd just like to hear everyone's opinion on it more than anything, after giving my own.

 

Now, before anyone says anything, I want to define the specific type of marriage I'm talking about. I'm referring to Brother-Sister or Cousin Marriage only. Not Aunt-Niece or Father-Daughter or anything of that sort. Rather, I'm only focusing on relatives in the same generation. And we're not talking about inbreeding here, either. That's a totally different subject with a totally different set of facts.

 

Anyways, to give my own opinion on this... I, personally have no problem with it, and I would certainly support it. In its defense, I would say that there's very little difference between this and homosexual marriage. For example, homosexual marriage is commonly supported by the idea that "Love is love", and that everyone should be allowed to express that love to whomever and with whomever they choose. This same logic could be applied to the concept of incestuous marriage, as in, if a man and a man can be allowed to marry, why not a brother and sister, or two cousins? As far as I'm concerned, at least, love between two people shouldn't come with any such legal ridicule or prohibition, regardless of those persons' circumstances.

 

So, what do you think about it?

[vla1ne]

I'm not exactly cool with it, but I don't care enough to be against it.

 

My largest problem is the sheer amount of genetic issues that can arise from it, seeing as similar genes would mean far larger shares of genetic defects. but if I'm reading what you typed correctly, then inbreeding is not going to be factored into this discussion, and in that case, go ahead and marry whatever cousin/brother/sister you want.

[Dementuo]

I'm not exactly cool with it, but I don't care enough to be against it.

 

My largest problem is the sheer amount of genetic issues that can arise from it, seeing as similar genes would mean far larger shares of genetic defects. but if I'm reading what you typed correctly, then inbreeding is not going to be factored into this discussion, and in that case, go ahead and marry whatever cousin/brother/sister you want.

Marriage =/= children. I really want that to be clear.

[vla1ne]

Marriage =/= children. I really want that to be clear.

     I know that, that's why I have no issues with gay marriage, they might not have kids, but 2 people still love each other, the same can be said about incestuous marriage, two people love each other, and that's the main factor, but unlike gay marriage, this pairing can have children, (unless its a gay incestuous marriage) and those children will have a skyrocketed rate of bodily defects. but I took out the children factor for this discussion because you said it wasn't going to be applied here, which is understandable seeing as the thread would probably spiral into a "think of the children!" thread otherwise. And as long as that single factor is removed from the equation, then why should I have any issue with who somebody else wants to marry?

[Dementuo]

That's almost the exact same belief I have.

[Rawkobo]

And condoms/getting anyone's tubes tied is a thing, too.

I'm actually fairly okay with it as long as nothing bad comes out of it, which is highly dependent on family views. I mean, that doesn't mean you can't just ignore them and do your thing anyway, but awkwardness is always an issue with relationships in my mind.

[L0SS]

I think you summed it up perfectly. Legal ridicule shouldn't come between people in love. If both people are happy, then they should have the same legal rights as anybody else.

 

Next up, three way marriage. ;)

[Smear]

I don't really like it, but now that you've said how it's like we argue about Gay Marriage with "Love is Love" it's kinda completely turned my attitude.
Now that I think about it I guess I don't like it because I'd never do it.
But if they really love each other then I guess it really should be legal because love is love.

[Fusion X. Denver]

I don't really like it, but now that you've said how it's like we argue about Gay Marriage with "Love is Love" it's kinda completely turned my attitude.
Now that I think about it I guess I don't like it because I'd never do it.
But if they really love each other then I guess it really should be legal because love is love.

Pretty much this. The only real point I'd make against it is if they had kids, but if they adopted or just didn't have kids, then yeah, it should be fine.

I think their family members would have a much harder time accepting that as opposed to changing genders and/or sexual orientation, but times do change. It's entirely possible that incestuous marriage could become the next big social issue down the road once people move past gay marriage.

[Tourmaline]

Did you know that "think of the children" is an appeal to emotion and is invalid regardless? Even if the topic dwindled to idiocy, the moron thinking of the children is probably the biggest one of them all.

In terms of incestuous marriage, I am not somebody who would not personally do it nor am I against it in any aspect. The truth is more that I am sufficiently repulsed from most of my family's views to not feel very strongly about any of them but my brother, though I would not marry him. He would not approve and he would hate it while I prefer the sibling relationship and already have somebody I am devoting myself to.

I would absolutely approve of any two members in marriage. That is father and child, away from the original post's intention. The generation does not matter if the love is mutual and genuine. As stated somewhere else, I do not believe any State has business in the bedrooms of its citizens. Nor does any sort of deity. If somebody is going to have a religion, norm, moral or law tell them who to love and who they may not love, then they are oppressing themselves more than anything. No entity but the ones involved should obstruct love, which is shared by the involved individuals and nobody else.

Also...regardless of how cliché love's having abilities is, it really is superior to appreciate others, cherish them and support them for merely the positive emotions you feel for them instead of putting distance between each other for sharing half to a miniscule amount of genetics, or even gender. Why should anybody fight to find a reason to not want to help others (regardless of ethnicity/belief/et cetera), not cherish them (regardless of gender/sex/status) not support them and not try to rehabilitate them (those who are against/criminals et cetera)?

Love is an emotion and love is an intrinsic good. The only existences that should not invoke love are if one sincerely and personally does not love another or opposing agents, such as bigotry, the belligerent or the hateful.

[Catman25]

Marriage =/= children. I really want that to be clear.

But marriage can lead to children. I'm not saying that incestuous couples are ignorant and will ignore the genetics behind it all, but it's bound to happen, at least at a rate that could potentially be more dangerous than normal. I'm fine with marriage, marry who you want. But you can't dismiss the child factor, making not the marriage questionable, but the consequent events after the marriage questionable.

[Dementuo]

But marriage can lead to children. I'm not saying that incestuous couples are ignorant and will ignore the genetics behind it all, but it's bound to happen, at least at a rate that could potentially be more dangerous than normal. I'm fine with marriage, marry who you want. But you can't dismiss the child factor, making not the marriage questionable, but the consequent events after the marriage questionable.

I'm not dismissing the issue, but offspring aren't the topic here. What I said was that marriage does not have to result in children. All we're discussing here is the concept of the marriage itself.

[Catman25]

Imo, to discuss the idea of marriage in its entirety, you have to look at all the factors. I know what you're saying, but the child factor does influence my opinion on the topic.

[Kyng's Old Account]

My opinion is quite simple on matters like this: If two related people find love between each other, let them be happy and do their own thing. So long as no-one is hurt in the process, why actually concern yourself when it doesn't involve you and your say will realistically do nothing to deter them from what they're doing?

[Black Metal]

Well, brother and sister marriage is kind of strange to me, especially with them living together all throughout their lives. But if they really do love each other, then let them be. Trying to separate two lovers will only make it worse. I have to agree with Kyng. As long as no one's really hurt in the process, it's okay.

 

I don't really mind cousin to cousin marriage though. It's very common in the middle-eastern countries and around the world.

[Admiral Tim]

Marriage =/= children. I really want that to be clear.

 

That's like saying a rocket to the moon=/=explosion and death.  Directly no, but you always have to factor in the chance that something bad can happen.  Say the condom breaks what happens to the kid?  Deformity for the rest of its life?  It's the same reason why we don't attempt to clone people.  What happens when it goes wrong.  Perhaps you make a genetic abomination and deep down you KNOW it could have been prevented.  Plus inbreeding cousins is far better than sister-brother in terms of the genetic pool aspect.  

[Lonk]

If an incestuous marriage doesn't work out, then the fall will be much harder than with a non-related couple divorcing.  While I believe that people should pursue who they love, there are various different risks associated with different actions and different circumstances with those same actions.  Unless if it is truly something that they actually and genuinely feel together, then it isn't worth it since it can potentially destroy an entire family's relationships with each other.

[~ P O L A R I S ~]

You make an excellent point, Excellus.

That being said, as great as the risks can be, it should be up to the couples involved to weigh those risks given their personal situations and to make judgements accordingly. I can imagine that many would-be incestuous couples don't have particularly stable families to begin with and so feel as if they have less to lose in desiring one another. If legislation were to be enacted on the basis of how damaging the fallout could be to the family, it wouldn't make much sense to apply it to orphan siblings.

[Enrise]

Ultimately, I'm more or less indifferent about it, but that can result in different reasons why I feel this way:

• Little to no sexual or romantic interest
• Single child
• No exposure to these type of possible relationships

Reasons aside for my stance, I feel that it's really up to the couple. I would feel weird if I had a sister hitting on me, but it's also worth noting that my life would be entirely different if I did have a sister, let alone a sibling. Now if I had a higher sexual/romantic level, then I might have a completely different stance, ultimately a different perspective on life and other things like (blah blah blah, blah, blah blah).

 

I've talked long enough. Decision: let 'em marry if they wanna.

[Tentacruel]

Do I think it's okay?  Not really.

 

Should it be illegal?  Not at all.  As marriage is entirely a separate issue from reproduction, there's no reason not let them if they actually want to. 

[Susie]

I guess if it's love then it's love, it'll be that way, I say let them have their marriage, even though it might seem a bit odd for us who don't understand it, that doesn't mean it should be illegal.

[DARKPLANT RISING]

Real depends, though, on whether or not you go into the children argument.

If it should be implimented, making children between them should become illegal, honestly (the reasons are all aforementioned by the others so I'm not gonna delve into that), but I'm pretty sure that wouldn't work for most of them. I suppose it's impossible to completely support the human rights of every single human on the planet, and yeah - the children born between an incestuous couple, you can't really call their lives "fair".

Surprisng fact: You can't choose who to be born from. Unless something happens to this natural law, the rights of an incestuous couple should be controlled. But I'm pretty damn sure that's not gonna work, and if it wouldn't - sucks for all.

And apart from that, unlike how most gays who want gay marriage wouldn't want to marry people of the opposite sex, people who want incestuous marriage - I'm preeeeeety sure there's other ways to go with life.  I mean, like.  Yeah.

There are certain cases in which risks outweigh the needs, and I believe this is one of them.  I say no.

[Sleepy]

I'll be simple about my opinion here:

 

If children are left out of the subject, I don't understand what the problem would be. It's not a crime, both sides would be in an agreement here, there'd be love, and being siblings odds are that they already know each other plenty and know what they are getting into xP

 

I personally didn't even know exactly why it was a problem even with kids, until I read this thread.

Does anything other people say really matter? Something like "your sis loves you and you love her back" as an example, is all that counts.

What does anyone even gain from opposing it?

[vla1ne]

I'll be simple about my opinion here:

 

If children are left out of the subject, I don't understand what the problem would be. It's not a crime, both sides would be in an agreement here, there'd be love, and being siblings odds are that they already know each other plenty and know what they are getting into xP

 

I personally didn't even know exactly why it was a problem even with kids, until I read this thread.

Does anything other people say really matter? Something like "your sis loves you and you love her back" as an example, is all that counts.

What does anyone even gain from opposing it?

Eternal hatred by oreimo fans is what you'd gain from supporting it, because you didn't choose Ruri..

 

...OT without children in the equation, it isn't even really an argument, because hey, it's 2 people who want to be together, not really any way to argue against that. But the problem is that children would inevitably enter the equation, the severe rise in possible genetic defects is what makes the issue such a hot contest, that and people go eww icky when they think of it. My answer is just have them adopt kids, it solve the incest problem, and takes care of the orphan problem. everybody wins. (except kuroneko)