Incest - Acceptable or not?

[otseng]

Another thing is, incestrous marriage seems to be approved by God in Abram's and Sarai's case. However, in other parts of the Bible, it was condemned. Now you tell me, shall we have incest or not?

That's a good question. What does the Bible have to say about incest?

[RavEMasteR]

Another thing is, incestrous marriage seems to be approved by God in Abram's and Sarai's case. However, in other parts of the Bible, it was condemned. Now you tell me, shall we have incest or not?

That's a good question. What does the Bible have to say about incest?

Sarai is Abraham's half sister. Marrying her means marrying his own damned sister. It's incest. However, God seems to approve of their marriage, since Abraham is considered one of God's favourites.

In other parts of the Bible, however, God condemns incest.

It's a clear cut contradiction here.

[House Wren]

Weren't the Moabites a tribe of people descended from an incestuous union?

Are there any specific injunctions in Leviticus against lying with one's daughter or one's sibling? I don't recall.

I know that Levitical law prescribed a man to marry his dead brother's widow, so that his line would be carried on. I also know that's not really what we're talking about here.

[otseng]

Sarai is Abraham's half sister. Marrying her means marrying his own damned sister. It's incest. However, God seems to approve of their marriage, since Abraham is considered one of God's favourites.

In other parts of the Bible, however, God condemns incest.

The earliest condemnation of incest I could find in the Bible is Deut 27:22-23
"Cursed [be] he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed [be] he that lieth with his mother in law. And all the people shall say, Amen."

However, this was given by Moses, which was at least 400 years after Abraham. So, Abraham never had the laws prohibiting it in the first place.

But let's talk about incest a little bit. Apart from the Bible, why is it so bad? The main reason is that there is a higher chance of genetic defects. If two people have the same genetic defect, there is a greater chance their offspring will have it too. And if someone has a genetic defect, there is a higher chance that a close relative would have it. So, just purely on a scientific level, incest is bad.

One question is then, well, what about Cain and Seth? Didn't they marry their sisters? And you also brought up Abraham marrying his half sister. The answer is in amount of genetic defects in humans at that time. Adam and Eve didn't have any genetic defects (yeah, I know, the Bible doesn't say this, but I'm inferring it). So, there were actually no problems with incest at that time. As humankind progressed, more genetic defects made it's way into humans. At the time of Abraham, genetic defects were certainly much less than what we have now. One way we know is because Abraham lives to be at least 150 years old.

[RavEMasteR]

Basically, if we consider that we are all from Adam & Eve, we'll all be incestrous bastards; you, me, your parents, everyone!

So, we're basically cornered by God into commiting incest. We have no choice, because every single soul on this damned planet is our brother/sister.

Also, I don't see how genetic defects have anything to do with this. We're talking about whether we should accept incest as a part of our lives, or not.

Oh, before I forget, there's also another person who screwed his two daughters in the desert. And this man was called a righteous one, Lot... Just another form of family values the Bible teaches us.

Genesis 19:33~36

You tell me, how bout your sister having sex with your father? Sounds good?

[Izumi Koushirou]

When we talk about incest, dictionary.com quotes it as:

Sexual relations between persons who are so closely related that their marriage is illegal or forbidden by custom.

In my opinion, there are three schools of thought in regards to incest.

A)Religious

- Obviously, religion's viewpoint is that incest is against god's rule, and is thereby, condemmed. However, in closer analyzation, if all of humanity did start with two beings, it shows that all of us are the result of incest, plain and simple.

B)Medical

- Children born within two very closely related individuals usually have a higher chance of some genetic defects, or the passing down of dangerous traits.

http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/m ... e00076.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/quer ... ds=2077135

However, we can attach this back to the bible. If "god" knew that for humanity to increase in population there would be incest, and incest is bad for mental health and genetics, then "god" was condemming humanity to mental incapciation and sickness.

C)Psychological

- If we ignored society's displeasure towards incest, incest is in fact, very good. It reaffirms good relations with families, which in turn, make people happier and more productive. Happy is good.

[otseng]

Basically, if we consider that we are all from Adam & Eve, we'll all be incestrous bastards; you, me, your parents, everyone!

Assuming that we're all from Adam and Eve, I wouldn't say that we're all that closely related to qualify as incest. Depending on the culture, it's generally within immediate family or extended family to qualify as incest.

Is the thought that one couple populated the entire world make it seem that we'd all be incestous? However, even if you don't believe in Adam and Eve, and believe in Mr Monkey-turned-man, there still had to have been one single couple to start all of mankind. So, either way, it's the same.

Oh, before I forget, there's also another person who screwed his two daughters in the desert. And this man was called a righteous one, Lot... Just another form of family values the Bible teaches us.

You forgot one thing though, Lot didn't initiate it and didn't even know about it. However, he did get drunk.

[RavEMasteR]

True, but I wasn't even commenting on whether Lot's an asshole or not.

I said it was just another wholesome family value the Bible has to offer. Let us all go fsck out sisters, parents, aunts, and all ya?[sarcasm]

[Izumi Koushirou]

Assuming that we're all from Adam and Eve, I wouldn't say that we're all that closely related to qualify as incest. Depending on the culture, it's generally within immediate family or extended family to qualify as incest.

Is the thought that one couple populated the entire world make it seem that we'd all be incestous? However, even if you don't believe in Adam and Eve, and believe in Mr Monkey-turned-man, there still had to have been one single couple to start all of mankind.

Actually, if evolution is the case, the gradual transition between primate and human would be one that would encompass millions of years. If so, there wouldn't be "a first human", rather, a generation of first humans. Therefore, there wouldn't really be incest.

If Christian mythology is correct, however, incest was the way humanity was created, pure and simple.

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[otseng]

If Christian mythology is correct, however, incest was the way humanity was created, pure and simple.

Or if evolutionary mythology is correct, it's the same thing. Or did many pairs of humans just spontaneouly happen to evolve from monkeys at the same time to create mankind?