Incest, homosexuality

[TheDarkestOfAngels]

I do not agree that is a fair point to use. A family's destruction doesn't warrant a law...I don't feel that sort of harm is relevant when deciding what should and shouldn't be legal.

that being said, I do have a lot of disgust for parent-child relationships, but I have no fair explanation for that other than My own ick factor. I also don't agree with those who engage in incestutous relationships outside of their own marriages. I am mainly talking about first cousin or sibling relationships.

I also want to reinforce that I never said homosexual relationships were more destructive or less healthy than heterosexual ones.

Before I address your points, I do have to point out that the tone I got from your initial post has to do with the arguement I've seen from conservative circles that state that allowing gay marriages is the slippery-slope to allowing incest despite all three points.

Your first point:
There are many laws involved with familial relationships. Great pains and measures in terms of the letter of the law are given to care for children in damaged, disintegrating, or wildly changing domestic conditions, particularly when harm - potential or immediate - is involved. This includes things like divorce and domestic abuse because of how these things can seriously harm all involved.
There are also laws here and there in the US that attempt to take measures to keep marriages from breaking up for any number of reasons because a happy family is often a healthy family.

Given the above and thinking about the more destructive forms of incest (parent-child and sibling) and ignoring what you call the 'ick' factor, there is no positive or benign outcome of either relationship. Either relationship can and will destroy an entire family unit for any number of reasons before causing one or both of my first two points in some manner or another.

Depending on the other people involved, it can even have more serious complications with the uninvolved family members more often than not.

There is a good enough reason alone for the law to get involved, even when those involved are consenting adults even if the involvement is only mild (such as through state-ordered counseling). If children are involved (not direclty of course) then my first point becomes an issue and the law has every reason to become really involved.

Your second point:
The studies I'm vaguely aware of done on first cousin relationships and the reason they are not illegal in most places, from my limited understanding, is because two such consenting adults don't necessarily result in either the first or second points (though the third obviously becomes a factor because it's still a stigma) I've made.
A couple who fell for one another who don't necessarily realize that they're first cousins (for whatever reason) might not even have to deal with any of those problems.

Your third point:
I make the comparisons with homosexual relationships (as I said at the start of this post) because I've seen the comparison made, along with pedophilic relationships, which are always extremely destructive and bestiality.
I don't mean to insinuate anything in regards to your opinion, but I made the connection from your post and I thought it important to point out.