Incest

Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org

Why do some people commit incest? In some traditions marrying your first cousin is considered acceptable. It has been practiced freely amongst the British Royal family in order to ensure purity of the royal bloodline. In fact the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh (her husband) are also distant relatives.

A BBC article debates marriages between cousins and sheds some light on the complexity of the issue. BBC article: Your Views: Cousin Marriages http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/4442646.stm)has some interesting arguments from people across the globe giving their opinion on marriages between cousins. It is clear from the article that not all people considered marriage between cousins incest even if it is banned in some societies.


I think the fundamental argument is that of consensual agreement between two parties. So long as two people are happy to marry and it is not forced then they should be allowed to do so. It is the question of force comes into it is when it becomes wrong.

My personal opinon is that sex between father, mother, daughter or son is wrong, however, my views on sex/marriage between cousins are more lenient. I don't think that the latter should be practiced frequently through generations and generations as the likelihood of producing a child with birth defects increases over generations, but if it is practiced now and then and it isn't forced then I think it is acceptable. There should be some level of freedom of choice in our lives and also some things like marriage between cousins cannot be controlled as it has been practiced over many years within some communities.