Foreword
Among certain hill-tribes in Cambodia, marriage between brothers and sisters is allowed, and among the Indian Kuki only mother-son incest is forbidden. Among the Kalangs in Java, mother-son marriages are regarded as bringing especial good fortune. The Baduvis of West Java have perpetuated themselves for centuries by means of incest. The northeast Bantus of Teita in East Africa marry their mothers and sisters, though it must be said that the main reason for this is because they are too poor to buy themselves other women.
Among the highest castes of the Balinese, brother and sister marriages are allowed between twins of different sexes. The Eskimos of Kodiac, an island south of the Alaska Peninsula, accepted all forms of incest during the nineteenth century, without restrictions. The Dyaks of hinterland Borneo have no conception at all of incest. The Baigas tolerate incest between grandparents and grandchildren, and on the Solomon Islands father-daughter marriages are allowed.
Here one must mention the brother-sister marriages in Polynesia, Malaya, Burma and among the Kamachadals in Siberia. The Yakuta tribesmen of Siberia and the Ceylonese exercise a marriage ban for members of the chief family, but in the case of the former, the sister is deflowered by her brother before she marries so that she may not take the family luck with her.
Thus it becomes obvious that rules against incest are sociological phenomena. In some places they exist, in other places they are reversed. Good and bad is determined by geography.
In American society, much of the problem is basically religious dogma. And even here, the basis for activity is questionable. There are many Biblical passages referring to the marriage of brothers and sisters, cousins and other relatives. And it is not specifically mentioned as a wrong. In fact, the children of Adam and Eve were required to commit incest to propogate the species.
Modern research indicates that excessive inbreeding can cause serious genetic concentration of dangerous recessive genes. The royal families of historical significance who practiced incest frequently have encountered that problem.
Obviously, incest undertaken for the sake of propagation is undertaken as a risky business. Incest for pleasure is still an open area for judgment.
-THE PUBLISHER