Marriages between relatives are widespread in the Middle East

[Lul Thyme]

Re: Marriages between relatives are widespread in the Middle East

Originally posted by VetLegion
Marriages between relatives are widespread in the Middle East, particularly in Saudi Arabia, where a government study has found that 56.8% of all marriages are between first and second cousins or more distant relatives.

Meaningless statistics alert.

OR MORE DISTANT RELATIVES.

In other news ,

Marriages between relatives are widespread in the U.S, particularly in California, where a government study has found that 100% of all marriages are between first and second cousins or more distant relatives.

I can't believe there's already a few posts on this without anybody mentionning this.
Some people need their BS radar fixed.


Btw, I am not saying that there is not a lot of close relative marrying going around over there. It could be true, or not.
I am just pointing out that the "information" given was actually no information at all.
If those "percentages strike (you) as unbelievably high", it'd be great if they actually carried information, but that's just me.

[SlowwHand]

I disregard stupidy like this about California.

[Dinner]

Someone thinks Californians often marry relatives?

[Provost Harrison]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
Moron. Go car shopping.

Got one. Now I have all the time in the world just to taunt you

[Lul Thyme]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
I disregard stupidy like this about California.

If you include "and more distant relative" then by definition, everyone married is married to a relative and the stat becomes meaningless.

So in fact this stupidy I wrote is trivially true.
And void of information, just like the OP.

I don't think that Californians often marry close relatives, I think you and Oerdin missed the point.

[Proteus_MST]

IMHO one should think that especially fundamentalists should have a very positive attitude towards incest.

After all, how many humans created god according to the bible?
2, a man and a woman.
Therefore although AFAIK it isn´t mentioned in the bible, people who take the bible literally should come to the conclusion that the children of Adam and Eve could not do anything other than having sex with their brothers/sisters (or alternatively with their parents)

[Spiffor]

It's not surprising. Middle-East culture barely allows for boys to meet girls, so people marry someone from the small circle they know.

You'll notice the figure is the smallest in Egypt, the country in the area that is the least socially regressive.

[Wernazuma III]

Originally posted by VetLegion
I'm fairly confident it was never the case in Croatia and neighbouring countries. Maybe Catholicism has a bigger taboo on cousin marriages than other religions?

I think it's illegal to marry first and second cousins if you're a Catholic, only the third are an option.

It surely isn't Catholicism. In the past, there was a special permit issued by the Vatican - the dispense - that would allow you to marry your cousin. It was VERY frequently used among aristocracy in all Europe and not too hard to obtain for commoners either. I'm pretty confident, you weren't free from it in Croatia either.
One "thumb rule" is: the higher the mountains, the narrower the valley and the bigger the distance to bigger population centers, the higher familiar endogamy. Islands also may qualify.

[aneeshm]

Among the Hindus of India, it is incest to marry anyone of the same family, no matter how distant. Marriages between first and second cousins disgust people here, and are usually not spoken of or discussed in polite company.

According to Spiffor, that makes Hindu society the most progressive.

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by aneeshm
According to Spiffor, that makes Hindu society the most progressive.

I don't know enough about the origins of the Hindu civilization to speak about that



That said, I always thought of India as being traditionally much less oppressive than the monotheist cultures wrt sex.

[LordShiva]

Originally posted by aneeshm
Marriages between first and second cousins disgust people here, and are usually not spoken of or discussed in polite company.

That's not really true. I know of several families in which second-cousin marriages have occurred. They're mostly large, Hindu family businesses.

[GePap]

Marriage within the extended family has always been rather common. Most people never travelled more than a few miles from where they lived, who else would they meet?

[aneeshm]

Originally posted by LordShiva


That's not really true. I know of several families in which second-cousin marriages have occurred. They're mostly large, Hindu family businesses.

Doesn't change the fact that it is forbidden.

Brahmins have an extra restriction. They are not allowed to marry anyone of the same gotra. This rule is no longer followed, however.

Gotra refers to the lineage. Every Brahmin is considered a descendant of some or the other great sage of antiquity. So marrying within the same lineage is considered incest.

[LordShiva]

Originally posted by aneeshm
Doesn't change the fact that it is forbidden.

Doesn't change the fact that it's not really the case that "[m]arriages between first and second cousins disgust people here, and are usually not spoken of or discussed in polite company."

[aneeshm]

Originally posted by LordShiva


Doesn't change the fact that it's not really the case that "[m]arriages between first and second cousins disgust people here, and are usually not spoken of or discussed in polite company."

At least in my family, we don't like such things. I'm personally repulsed by such things. A friend of mine, who comes from a wealthy business family, told me that all marriages not just within the family, but also with anyone of the same surname, were forbidden.