Comment by Heather Spoonheim on March 7, 2011 at 3:36am

I don't think science has ever suggested that the offspring of brother/sister would be severely mutated.  Actually mutation is something completely different from inbreeding, if I correctly understand the little bit that I know about biology.  In any event, inbreeding is bad, mmmkay?  I'll leave it to someone with more knowledge of biology to explain why, from a scientific standpoint.

 

Sex with siblings just has an inherent creep factor, in my opinion - although we seem to agree on that point.  Cousins, on the other hand, I think are pretty fair game.  Even if there is some risk from a genetic stand point (again, I'm weak on the science) there is no reason to actually combine your genetic material.  If you actually got married, and got sound genetic counselling against procreation,  AND still wanted to have children - you could always use donor genetic material.

Comment by Doubting Thomas on March 7, 2011 at 9:09am

now that's an atheistic answer, no lightning or curse warnings

Comment by Craig Nomazlab on March 7, 2011 at 10:06am

I have absolutely no remaining opinions that came from my past religion. Most of my opinions are the exact opposite of those I had when I was religious.

Comment by Alejandro M on March 7, 2011 at 10:22am

Darwin married his cousin. I rest my case ;-)

Comment by James on March 7, 2011 at 8:54pm

Atheism concerns belief, whereas Agnosticism concerns knowledge. If you don't believe in a deity you are an Atheist (whether you are open to the possibility or not). Being agnostic means that you do not know 100% for certain if a deity exists or not. Thus they are two claims on different subjects. I am open to the possibility of a god existing, but don't believe one does. But I also admit that I don't know for a 100% fact that he doesn't... Thus I am an Agnostic Atheist, as I would opine a great many here are.

I'd actually say that I am quite different from when I was a believer. I've shed the prejudices I previously held because of my church. My political views are no longer defined by what scripture or the congregation say. I'd actually say I'm more moral, thoughtful, independent, self assured and happier than I ever was as a believer. I honestly can't think of one aspect of religion that I miss.

The only rational downside I can think of with the situation you mentioned with your cousin is that the closer the genes, the more susceptible offspring will be to defect. As Alejando said, Darwin married his first cousin. So I would consider the possible genetic issue, but you'll likely have to worry about the reaction and attitudes of those around you more.

 

Cheers!

Comment by Gerald Scott on March 7, 2011 at 9:08pm

In Florida there is a sign for a christian church.  It simply says "Scumbags Wanted".  If there was ever a reason I wouldn't go to a church in the first place, that one says it all.  I personally don't know any scumbags and I don't want to be introduced to any.  Thank you.

Comment by scLovely on March 7, 2011 at 10:47pm

If the activity is consensual, go for it. Forever ago I read some article about how cousins put off similar sexual pheromones that leads to a sexual interest in eachother. I don't know if it was complete B.S. or not, but it was interesting enough for me to remember something about it.

Comment by Arcus on March 8, 2011 at 12:56pm

Only if it's the offspring of your father's brother. That way you can hyphen two identical surnames.

Comment by Doubting Thomas on March 11, 2011 at 5:18am

there's one thing i know boys still suffer for because of religion it's circumcision, no matter what excuse exists for the behavior it's reasons are purely religious and useless at that. I think i've shed enough blood for the madness and wont shed a drop more.

Comment by Chris Townsend on June 13, 2011 at 3:37pm

Science has shown through genetic study that inbreeding is not a good idea and here is why:  In our DNA makeup, we all have "broken" genes and good genes.  In our chromosomal makeup, we have two copies, one copy we get from mom and one copy from dad.  If the copy from one parent is "broken" then our body uses the good copy from the other parent in it's place so the bad copies seem to be "hiding" in our DNA.  When we inbreed, we tremendously increase our risk of passing along two copies of the "broken" gene and not passing along a "good" copy.  So, since the offspring does not have a good copy to use, it is forced to use a "broken" copy and thus we see a higher frequency of mutations (ie - disorders) in the offspring of an inbreeding event.  So, while it is possible to have a healthy offspring from an inbreeding event, the chances of it being unhealthy is drastically and quite significantly higher.  Hope that helps ya some (which I imagine it doesn't if you were looking for a good explanation to have a baby with your sister...lol)  :)

 

Anytime you want to talk about aliens...I'm down!

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