Marriage Laws

[melon]

Honestly, melon, I do see your point. But I still object to the thought of flesh and blood mating with itself. You may have changed your views over the years, but you and I in the past had very similar views against dope, which, as you know, the pro-dope crowd can raise the same issue as your are raising here about cousins getting married.

I see love and the ability to express it to be a fundamental human right. I don't extend that to "getting high." Big difference, as far as I'm concerned.

And again, this issue is disgusting to me because it actually IS legal in my state and my state "benefits" from the jokes and images associated with cousins marrying each other. But this is only one of many legal issues in my state and its constitution that I find to be disturbing.

Well, I have less respect for states that have "Defense of Marriage" acts, personally. And, yes, that includes the one I'm currently living in. I'm plotting my escape yet again. These degenerates don't deserve my tax dollars.

Melon

 

[melon]

Okay heres one for you all, in an incestuous relationship it is deemed to be harmful because of the increased risk of genetic disease in offspring. Going by the same logic could society make it illegal for individuals who suffer from severe and heritable genetic diseases to procreate?

You don't need to be married to have children. Lesson #1 from "Maury Povich."

Melon

 

[U2Bama]

This is perhaps the most disturbing case yet from my state, and it has occurred in my Metropolitan area. I try to be tolerant and open-minded, and perhaps my objection to a brother and sister having intercourse with each other means that I should be put on some hate crime watch, but this is taking it a bit too far. And while we're at it, I am also opposed to prostitution and I do not think it should be legalized, but that is a topic for another thread.

From THE BIRMINGHAM NEWS:

Man, sister charged with incest in Trafford incident
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
BY CHANDA TEMPLE
News staff writer
A brother and sister have been charged with felony incest after Jefferson County deputies found them having sex earlier this month in Trafford, officials said.
Ronald Stewart Howze, 44, of Trafford and Lori Ann Rotton, 41, of Smyrna, Ga., remain jailed, with bond set at $50,000 each. Rotton makes her first court appearance in the case Thursday. Howze appeared in court last week to get a lawyer and returns in May for a preliminary hearing, records show. If convicted, they face up to 10 years in prison.
Authorities said Howze's wife telephoned deputies and, when they arrived, pointed them to a home in the 2300 block of Gurley Road on April 7 just after midnight. A deputy saw the siblings having intercourse in the wife's bedroom.
The deputy asked Howze to stop, get dressed and step outside, said Sgt. Randy Christian, spokesman for the sheriff's office. The deputy opened the door after a minute and saw they had not stopped, Christian said.
"At that point (Howze) stopped and stated, `I guess I'm going to jail,'" Christian said.
The siblings told authorities they knew they were related and confirmed that they were having sex, Christian said, reading from the incident report. Both had been drinking.
Howze was arrested and Rotton, who appeared to be highly intoxicated, was taken to a hospital and treated for excessive alcohol, Christian said, citing the report. She was charged later.
Howze said in his statement that a doctor had given him a "death warrant."
"He had been told he had cancer and planned to go out crazy," Christian said.
Both denied having sex with each other before that night, and Rotton said she had not been raped, Christian said.
Defense attorney Tommy McFarland was appointed to the case last week and said his client told him Tuesday he could not remember what happened. Howze told McFarland he suffers from seizures and has asked to see a psychiatrist.
Christian said officials have no indication Howze or Rotton are mentally impaired.


~U2Alabama

 

[melon]

This is perhaps the most disturbing case yet from my state, and it has occurred in my Metropolitan area. I try to be tolerant and open-minded, and perhaps my objection to a brother and sister having intercourse with each other means that I should be put on some hate crime watch, but this is taking it a bit too far. And while we're at it, I am also opposed to prostitution and I do not think it should be legalized, but that is a topic for another thread.

As gross as I think that incest is, I don't know why we care. Anti-sex laws accomplish nothing. They are futile. The vast majority of "offensive" sex acts occur under the radar, and there's nothing anyone can do about it.

Now rape, obviously, is a different story. Rape, obviously, should be prosecuted. But consentual sex? Who cares? I know we can make a very logical argument that incest is bad, and I agree. I find it gross. And having children via incest is (arguably, in some circles) a genetic accident waiting to happen. But no amount of laws, no amount of arrests make any difference at all. Period.

I don't see what charging these people with "felony incest" accomplishes. It was, frankly, none of our business, and if the media never reported, we'd never known it had occurred. And, clearly, even with the laws on the books, it didn't stop it from happening.

Melon

 

[A_Wanderer]

You don't need to be married to have children. Lesson #1 from "Maury Povich."

Melon

But I never said a thing about marriage, I was talking about eugenics to prevent genetic disease from being passed down.

 

[melon]

But I never said a thing about marriage, I was talking about eugenics to prevent genetic disease from being passed down.

And tell me...how would any law prevent those people from getting pregnant, if they were really determined?

Melon

 

[A_Wanderer]

Sterilisation based upon a genetic evaluation, for the 'greater good' of the next generation.

 

[Angela Harlem]

Oh man, is that fellows name really Randy Christian? I'm sorry....

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

As gross as I think that incest is, I don't know why we care. Anti-sex laws accomplish nothing. They are futile. The vast majority of "offensive" sex acts occur under the radar, and there's nothing anyone can do about it.

Now rape, obviously, is a different story. Rape, obviously, should be prosecuted. But consentual sex? Who cares? I know we can make a very logical argument that incest is bad, and I agree. I find it gross. And having children via incest is (arguably, in some circles) a genetic accident waiting to happen. But no amount of laws, no amount of arrests make any difference at all. Period.

I don't see what charging these people with "felony incest" accomplishes. It was, frankly, none of our business, and if the media never reported, we'd never known it had occurred. And, clearly, even with the laws on the books, it didn't stop it from happening.

Melon

. What melon said.

Angela

 

[verte76]

As a Birmingham resident, I should have been aware of this case but I'm not. It's disturbing. I wonder what the "mental impairment" of these two was? That's a really vague, somewhat legalistic explanation of what's going on. I'm not saying cousin marriages are OK. I'm just saying they've happened in my ancestry, but hell, one of my ancestors was a slave-owner and of course that was wrong.

 

[melon]

Sterilisation based upon a genetic evaluation, for the 'greater good' of the next generation.

"Forced sterilization" never works, and genetic deformities occur in completely unrelated individuals, as well.

Melon