Is it okay to marry your distant cousin?

Answer 1

The Bible does not forbid marrying your cousin so let's make sure in our zeal to help others that we don't confuse what our culture teaches with what the Bible teaches. Isaiah 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Leviticus 18 lists the forbidden relationships and cousins are not forbidden nor is cousin marriage forbidden anywhere else in the Bible. God may have chosen your cousin for you and if He chose him it would be a sin to walk away from this. There is no evidence that there is a significant increase in birth defects when cousins marry. The preferred marriage among the Israelites was cousin to cousin marriage and Jews to this day have an average I.Q. of over 120 with the highest population of Geniuses in the world. Ever hear of Einstein? Both Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin married their first cousins. If such scientists as these had no fear of "defects" in their children then you should not. Their children were all healthy and bright. However, if you're really stupid and your cousin is really stupid then there is a much higher chance that your children will be really stupid. Is there room for a little humor here? The fact is that cousin marriage was banned by the Roman Catholic church under 'Pope Gregory I' in an attempt to prevent the accumulation of wealth and power within families. The popes saw wealth among the common man as competition for their own power. This power structure exists in the Philippines to this day and is hampering economic development. The ban had nothing to do with our Bibles which we read regularly, don't we? Civil disobedience has a long history within the Christian community. You've all heard of people power. When the people gathered by the thousands outside of Malacanang to oust Marcos that was against the law. Was it a sin? No. If you must go to another province or state to marry your cousin so that nobody will report you then that is what you must do. Will that be against the law? Maybe. Is it a sin? No. This is not unheard of in the Philippines, The United States, and many other countries where Born Again Christians live in sufficient numbers to make such laws of no effect. I know of such a couple in the Philippines and they live happily to this day. They're now in their 60s with 5 children and many grandchildren. They're born again of course because it is the pope who forbids cousin marriage, not the Bible. from http://www.christianmarriage.com/home/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=59

Answer 2

In some cases these marriages are considered ideal, but they are uncommon.They account for about 10% of all marriages worlwide. Austria, Hungary and Spain banned them in the 19th Century. England maintains a very small percentage of marriages, some 3%. In the USA they have been prohibited since the 1920's

Answer 3

Most cultures, and most people in the western culture, would probably not object to a relationship between fifth cousins. Firth cousins are people who have the same great great great great grandparent. Assuming there have been no cousin marriages in the lineage, each person has 32 sets of great great great great grandparents. Sharing one such set with a spouse is not much of a genetic sharing

Answer 4

Yes, in most cases you can marry your 5th cousin. The blood is diluted enough, that there is no risk medically to the children.

Answer 5

can a 2nd cousi date a 5th cosin