Should incest be banned?

[InformedIgnorance]

As for Prince Albert I can't really see how that piece of information brings much to the debate - incest with cousins is just about acceptable though fairly distasteful.

Excellent, so have we established that some sorts of incest (between cousins) is acceptable then? What about incest between adopted siblings? What about between a child and their step parent?

 

[Tiberius]

non-harmful is difficult to define because of various indirect consequences.

we have already discussed the strange case of necrophilia which never really led to any satisfactory conclusions.

how about drug abuse and possession of certain kinds of pornography - arguably not directly harmful to others but banned for good reason (in my view)

Okay, here's a hypothetical situation for you.

Billy and Sally are brother and sister in their early twenties. They are very close. They have sex after both agreeing to it. They both enjoy it and they both feel comfortable with what they have done. They use contraception so that Sally will not get pregnant.

In this particular instance, have either of them suffered abuse? If so, please be specific. Have either of them acted immorally? (Remember that morality is subjective!) Can you point to any specific harm that has been done to ANYONE?

 

[Tiberius]

The banning option seems to outweigh the legalisation one.

Only in your mind.

 

[Qymaen]

Okay, here's a hypothetical situation for you.

Billy and Sally are brother and sister in their early twenties. They are very close. They have sex after both agreeing to it. They both enjoy it and they both feel comfortable with what they have done.

In this particular instance, have either of them suffered abuse? If so, please be specific. Have either of them acted immorally? (Remember that morality is subjective!) Can you point to any specific harm that has been done to ANYONE?

A good point.

 

[nnmartin]

I would not because I am not attracted to her. "Incest" is okay with me, but pedophilia is not.

so if you were attracted to her then, do you think it would be fine to have a sexual relationship with her?

 

[nnmartin]

Excellent, so have we established that some sorts of incest (between cousins) is acceptable then? What about incest between adopted siblings? What about between a child and their step parent?

Yes, I would say that would be ok.

Distasteful perhaps, but ok because they are not from the same biological family.

 

[Qymaen]

so if you were attracted to her then, do you think it would be fine to have a sexual relationship with her?

That depends on whether the attraction is sexual or not. Even if I were sexually attracted to my sister, something unconcievable to me, then I'd probably still halt myself from entering a consensual sexual relationship with her. As I stated before, I am not okay with pedophilia.

I find forming consensual sexual relationships with children to be impossible considering most have no idea what sex is.

 

[nnmartin]

Okay, here's a hypothetical situation for you.

Billy and Sally are brother and sister in their early twenties. They are very close. They have sex after both agreeing to it. They both enjoy it and they both feel comfortable with what they have done. They use contraception so that Sally will not get pregnant.

In this particular instance, have either of them suffered abuse? If so, please be specific. Have either of them acted immorally? (Remember that morality is subjective!) Can you point to any specific harm that has been done to ANYONE?

yes, they have both suffered subconscious psychological abuse.

yes, they have both acted immorally.

yes, they have both harmed each other.

 

[nnmartin]

That depends on whether the attraction is sexual or not. Even if I were sexually attracted to my sister, something unconcievable to me, then I'd probably still halt myself from entering a consensual sexual relationship with her. As I stated before, I am not okay with pedophilia.

how about if your sister were of legal age then?

 

[Qymaen]

how about if your sister were of legal age then?

Then yes I would. As long as the feelings are returned.

 

[InformedIgnorance]

Yes, I would say that would be ok.

Distasteful perhaps, but ok because they are not from the same biological family.

So let us take the following two scenarios:

S1:
A man and woman get married, the man already has a one year old son from a previous marriage; the man dies soon after his remarriage leaving the wife to raise her step-son as a single mother; when the boy reaches the age of consent and both he and his step mother are willing.

S2:
A male and female sibling are separated soon after birth, upon reaching the age of consent they meet each other unaware of their blood relationship they become intimate, later finding out that they are related - they do not stop their relationship, but take steps to prevent pregnancy.

Is S1 acceptable (if in your words distasteful)? What about S2? Is S1 more acceptable than S2? And most importantly, WHY?

 

[nnmartin]

very easy to answer that.

S1 is more acceptable than S2.

why? - Because S2 is incest and S1 is not.

(S1 is very distasteful though)

It comes down to biology at the end of the day.

any more questions?

 

[McBell]

yes, they have both suffered subconscious psychological abuse.

What abuse?
I know you think that merely saying it makes it true, but you will need more than making the claim.

yes, they have both harmed each other.

What harm?
I know you think that merely saying it makes it true, but you will need more than making the claim.

Since morality is far to relative a concept to be meaningful, I have skipped that nonsensical part of your "argument".

 

[nnmartin]

whose morality should we base our laws on then?

 

[McBell]

whose morality should we base our laws on then?

Did you skip over the questions asking what abuse and what harm because you cannot answer them?

 

[nnmartin]

They have already been discussed on this thread several times over so I am hoping to move into new territory in the debate.


Now, would you sleep with your sister and if not, why not?

 

[InformedIgnorance]

Interesting, you are suggesting that biology is more important than an entire lifetime of experiences in determining the morality - after all, the step-parent relationship in S1 is a relationship that has lasted almost the entirety of the son's life. Am I correct?

What about half-siblings, they have comparable genetic similarities as cousins do.

 

[Father Heathen]

whose morality should we base our laws on then?

Laws should simply serve to protect peoples rights, freedom and equality.

 

[McBell]

They have already been discussed on this thread several times over so I am hoping to move into new territory in the debate.

Actually, it has not been shown that it causes harm or is abuse in this thread.

I understand that the claims have been made ad nauseum, but merely making the claim does not make it true.

 

[nnmartin]

Father Heathen:

as a newcomer to this thread I am interested to know your views on incest - ban or legalise, moral or immoral?