Oystein
Penultimate Amazing
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2009
- Messages
- 18,903
Ok, don't ask me how I arrived at this topic. I swear it has nothing to do with anything I have done or contemplate doing, just something that popped up in a discussion I had with someone, and later, out of boredom I guess, I thought about it, and got confused. I guess I am asking this not for its own merit, but to see how ethic standards about sex can be discussed by rational, modern people, using a somewhat complex situation to ponder.
So please, this is not about condoning or condemning a controversial or perhaps illegal behaviour. It's a question about ethics and how ethics ought to be reflected by law.
Many societies and jurisdictions have formal or informal bans on incest - sex between very close relatives (siblings; parent and child). I had alwas figured that the main reason for this would be concern for the genetic health of the potential offspring. Reading Wikipedia though (the English as well as the German) informed me that there is hardly common ground across countries and cultures on what the bannable offence is; often, laws against incest affect people not in close genetic relationships such as involving step-parents or adopted children. So the ban is really a regulation on marriage, not on genetic propagation, and the goal often was to keep family trees from becoming too entangled, perhaps complicating inheritance of material goods. Traditionally, of course, sex was seen as something that happens between married partners, and married partners were invariably conceived as man and woman.
Enter the 21st century, where gay and lesbian sex is becoming more and more accepted. Where do close relatives of the same sex stand when they engage in sexual activity? Is that immoral? Should it be allowed?
I consulted the German penal code (§ 173). It prohibts an act with siblings and genetic descendants that's called by the term "den Beischlaf vollziehen" ("to accomplish intercourse"). I asked one law student what "den Beischlaf vollziehen" includes and excludes, and was told that it means vaginal penetration with the penis only. It follows that other forms of sex between family members such as anal, oral or gay and lesbian practices are not forbidden by our law.
This gives rise to an interesting quirk: It seems that in this arena, homosexual encounters have a better legal standing than heterosexual encounters. Does this feel wrong?
So ... in your mind: What is morally acceptable what is not? What should be forbidden by law, what should not - and WHY? And what's the situation in your country or society?
(Note: I am not going to talk about minors that are legally restricted or barred from being the object of sexual acts, and I am not talking about coercion. Naturally, only sex between consenting, sane people of legal age can be usefully considered here. Also, if you think that homosexual incest is immoral solely based on the principle that homosexual acts in general are immoral, then probably you won't add much insight to this topic).
So please, this is not about condoning or condemning a controversial or perhaps illegal behaviour. It's a question about ethics and how ethics ought to be reflected by law.
Many societies and jurisdictions have formal or informal bans on incest - sex between very close relatives (siblings; parent and child). I had alwas figured that the main reason for this would be concern for the genetic health of the potential offspring. Reading Wikipedia though (the English as well as the German) informed me that there is hardly common ground across countries and cultures on what the bannable offence is; often, laws against incest affect people not in close genetic relationships such as involving step-parents or adopted children. So the ban is really a regulation on marriage, not on genetic propagation, and the goal often was to keep family trees from becoming too entangled, perhaps complicating inheritance of material goods. Traditionally, of course, sex was seen as something that happens between married partners, and married partners were invariably conceived as man and woman.
Enter the 21st century, where gay and lesbian sex is becoming more and more accepted. Where do close relatives of the same sex stand when they engage in sexual activity? Is that immoral? Should it be allowed?
I consulted the German penal code (§ 173). It prohibts an act with siblings and genetic descendants that's called by the term "den Beischlaf vollziehen" ("to accomplish intercourse"). I asked one law student what "den Beischlaf vollziehen" includes and excludes, and was told that it means vaginal penetration with the penis only. It follows that other forms of sex between family members such as anal, oral or gay and lesbian practices are not forbidden by our law.
This gives rise to an interesting quirk: It seems that in this arena, homosexual encounters have a better legal standing than heterosexual encounters. Does this feel wrong?
So ... in your mind: What is morally acceptable what is not? What should be forbidden by law, what should not - and WHY? And what's the situation in your country or society?
(Note: I am not going to talk about minors that are legally restricted or barred from being the object of sexual acts, and I am not talking about coercion. Naturally, only sex between consenting, sane people of legal age can be usefully considered here. Also, if you think that homosexual incest is immoral solely based on the principle that homosexual acts in general are immoral, then probably you won't add much insight to this topic).
Last edited:
