> <ranjit_math...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > This article gives instances of first cousins marrying and having
> > children:http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/the-problem-of-inbreeding-in-islam/
> > This is done in some Hindu castes too, although usually one generation
> > removed - men marrying their sisters' daughters.

> > In my clan, marriage to relatives less than 4 generations removed is
> > considered incest; the tradition of not arranging such marriages has
> > been handed down for who knows how long. Marrying a first cousin is a
> > grave breach of custom, and issues of (isolated instances of) such
> > marriages have great difficulty finding suitors. Whether it is
> > believed that religious law declares this immoral is a grey area; no
> > one seems to fault Abraham for having married his half-brother Nahor's
> > daugher Sarah.

> > Consider atheists who take issue with a brother and sister taking up a
> > common law marriage (not intending to have children, perhaps because
> > they are done with childbearing). How do they figure that this is
> > something to take issue with?

> The only reality-based problem with sibling incest is the genetic
> danger of conceiving a child with defects.  As long as the brother and
> sister don't have children, I have no issue with their relationship at
> all.

> - Bob T