Incest & Cousin Marriage
There is a reason why most cultures reject and frown upon incest – it is bad for our health as defective genes become concentrated and more likely to pose a problem. This downside has not stopped many cultures from engaging in or promoting it.
Incest is one of the most widespread of all cultural taboos, both in present and in past societies. Most modern societies have laws regarding incest and it is looked down upon by society.
Incest was common among the ruling class in ancient Egypt, and many Egyptian pharaohs married their siblings. Pharaohs wanted to copy their gods - Osiris and Isis were brother and sister, as well as man and wife. The Aztecs and ancient Persians had similar practices.
At some level, we know that incest is not beneficial because even cultures that openly practise it have a limit. For example, cousin marriage may be acceptable in parts of the world, but not marriage between siblings or child and parent. The latter is extremely rare.
Worldwide, it is estimated that more than 10% of marriages are between first or second cousins. Why are cousin marriages so popular in many communities? What are the benefits, if any? I looked online and was surprised to see many articles explaining why it may be beneficial.
Here are some examples:
- Social Stability: Couples who marry within their social circles may be more compatible and experience greater stability
- Family Ties: Cousin marriage can strengthen family ties and solidarity
- Cultural Continuity: Cousin marriage can help transmit cultural values and continuity
- Women's Status: Cousin marriage can improve a woman's status, such as by giving her a better relationship with her in-laws
- Reproductive Success: Cousin marriage may result in higher reproductive success than marrying someone unrelated
- Inheritance: In some societies, marrying a cousin may be the only way for a woman to receive an inheritance or avoid dowry payments
- Cooperation With In-laws: Cousin marriage may improve cooperation with in-laws
The only two potential examples that sound plausible are Family Ties and Cultural Continuity, the others seem to be overreaching.
Endogamy is the cultural practice of mating within a specific social group, religious denomination, caste, or ethnic group, rejecting any from outside the group or belief structure.
If marrying within your specific group protects the group's culture from change, then is the opposite true? Does marrying outside of the group bring change, new ideas and opportunities? Does it instil less distrust of strangers?
Did the West’s rejection of cousin marriage from the 19th century onwards lead to the domination of the world by the West? Does cousin marriage foster a parochial worldview? Does it encourage an Us & Them mentality?
“I against my brother. I and my brother against my cousin. I, my brother, and my cousin against the world.” - Arab Proverb
The UK has developed a cousin marriage problem through the immigration of cultures that practise it. It has created clans of people in specific areas who do not want to integrate and wish to live the life they had back home in the tribal lands.
More than half of all Pakistani couples married in the UK are cousins. Pakistanis account for 3% of births in the UK, yet account for 33% of children with genetic birth defects. This is a scandal and a huge cost for the NHS – a little like the morbidly obese eating themselves to death and the taxpayer picking up the bill.
Sweden is considering banning cousin marriage to tackle the issues this practice brings when alongside immigration, such as domestic violence and the oppression of women. Denmark has indicated that it may do the same. Norway was the first European country to ban the practice.
The West has many imported many cultural norms that it now has to tackle and end. In February 2023, the UK legislated against under-18s from getting married. This was to stop British girls from disappearing to the third world with their parents and coming back married against their will. In 1985, we had to criminalise the horrendous crime of Female Genital Mutilation to protect girls – it did not work.
All cultures are different - they are not of the same value or worth. Diversity is not our strength when we import failing cultures and have to spend time and money cleaning them up.
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4 天前Ah the Habsburgs....