On Marrying Cousins
Poll Incest or OK?I am not sure about the legality of marrying first cousins outside of the United States, but here, in about half of the states, marrying one's first cousin is illegal.
I believe that the history of this law stems from a proclamation from the Catholic church against the act based on a Biblical law against marrying kin. (The definition of "kin", however, is not strongly defined, and many characters in the Bible seemed to have married cousins without problems.)
Most people believe that marrying close relatives is highly risky and leads to retarded or in other ways disabled offspring. This can certainly be the case when marrying siblings, which is why most anthropologists think that most religions and cultures ban the practice. (However, there are also cases of this without condemnation pre-Levitical Law in the Bible.)
But it is actually not the case for marrying first cousins, even though most people would probably think so. It is actually (according to the National Society of Genetic Counselors) three to four times more risky to have children if the mother is over 40 years old -- and no one suggests that middle age mothers should be banned from having children!
I believe that the history of this law stems from a proclamation from the Catholic church against the act based on a Biblical law against marrying kin. (The definition of "kin", however, is not strongly defined, and many characters in the Bible seemed to have married cousins without problems.)
Most people believe that marrying close relatives is highly risky and leads to retarded or in other ways disabled offspring. This can certainly be the case when marrying siblings, which is why most anthropologists think that most religions and cultures ban the practice. (However, there are also cases of this without condemnation pre-Levitical Law in the Bible.)
But it is actually not the case for marrying first cousins, even though most people would probably think so. It is actually (according to the National Society of Genetic Counselors) three to four times more risky to have children if the mother is over 40 years old -- and no one suggests that middle age mothers should be banned from having children!