An Ally For Consanguinamory

Pete Darwin asked, “Is Incest Immoral?”

When incest is brought up in conversation it is normally met with utter revulsion. What are the main reasons for this and are they connected with morality at all? Is incest immoral?

That’s a lot of serious questions to start.



Some people are disgusted by the thought of consensual incest (consanguinamory.) But some people are disgusted by the thought of gay males having sex, and others are disgusted by the thought of heterosexual sex. Some people are disgusted at the thought of interracial sex, or a young woman with and old man. Some people are disgusted by the thought of their own parents having sex (which may have something to do with their disgust of consanguinamory.) And some people aren’t. Some people are turned on by the thought of some of these things. Some people feign disgust because they think they are supposed to, or the person bringing up the subject wants them to.

There are various possibilities that could be behind an incest taboo that has become an incest avoidance reaction. There could be clues provided by those who have experienced Genetic Sexual Attraction as well as others who have been consanguinamorous. The love is so intense, the sexual experience so powerful, that experiences and bonds with others can’t compete for primacy; when the human race needed genetic diversity for survival, this would have been a problem. Later on, under formalized patriarchy, daughters were traded for strategic alliances between clans; it would have often been problematic if the daughter was sexually active and bonding with a close relative, perhaps already carrying that person’s child. Royalty pursued consanguineous marriages to acquire and amass insulated power and wealth, and discouraged subjects from doing the same and thus becoming rivals. This became part of the rules used to control others, and the sex police try to enforce those rules to this day. But the world has changed a lot; more of us choose our partners and we don’t allow ourselves to be treated as bargaining chips or breeders. We have genetic testing and contraception, and there have been so many other evolutions.

He goes into genetics, before taking a moment to address one of the other typical objections…

You may argue most incestuous relationships aren’t consensual. You may be right, but such relationships aren’t immoral because they are incestuous. They are immoral because one person is taking advantage of the other. Such relationships are immoral because of the abuse incurred on one of the persons involved, physical and/or psychological. Whether they are related or not isn't what defines it as immoral, it's the abuse of power used to hurt another.

There’s no way of knowing for sure, but I suspect that there are far more situations of consensual incest, ranging from youthful experimentation to lifelong consanguinamory, than abuse such as molestation or assault.

Thus I don’t believe it is immoral for consenting adults to enter into and incestuous relationship, assuming the absence of abuse and if they avoid having children.

I don’t think it is necessarily immoral for them to have children. Most children born to consanguineous parents are fine. Anyone concerned about this should get genetic counseling (closely related or not) and go from there. The blogger gets into the fact that people who aren’t closely related can have an increased chance of having children with a debilitating disease.

There are women out there who have trouble finishing pregnancy, where their children die early on, though they continue to try to have children. There are also plenty of women who cause their children to suffer disease and addiction when they use drugs irresponsibly while pregnant. Nonetheless, in most of the aforementioned cases it's not regarded as immoral to keep trying to have children, let alone illegal for them to do so. Yet it is illegal and judged immoral for close relations to attempt a similar act, where the fetus or child is at the same amount of risk.

He restates the issue…

If it’s not okay for close relatives to produce children because there’s a higher risk of disease or disability, then why is it okay for people to do the exact same thing with non-relations?

His conclusion?

It would then be reasonable to conclude that the resulting act of an incestuous relationship by consenting adults, even if they choose to have children, is not in and of itself immoral.

Thank you! If someone finds enjoyment or even love with a close relative, they should be allowed their happiness. Also, even if someone does think something is immoral, they can still support equal access and freedom under the law.