11th October 2014, 9:02 PM
It's the consensual part that makes the former two so difficult. The biggest cases of polygamy, right now at least, occur in Mormon controlled cities, where female rights (and children's rights) are basically nonexistent. As for incest, well, the consent issue is a pretty obvious one there. Family members have a hierarchy, which sort of makes it impossible to really promise consent there, even as adults like Norman Bates (he wouldn't harm a fly).
It's the preexisting relationships that make those two such problems in practice that pretty much any real world case you can point to the result of some sort of lack of consent or abuse scenario (not to mention basic genetic issues with the incest, should children ever be attempted, which they shouldn't be).
That was my "sipping brandy while having a calm rational emotionless discussion" version, and in that mode, I can concede that if such issues are somehow resolved in some way or another, then there wouldn't be any other reason to ban them. That said, since gay couples meet in the same way and have the same basic levels of consent as straight, none of those issues apply there.
It's the preexisting relationships that make those two such problems in practice that pretty much any real world case you can point to the result of some sort of lack of consent or abuse scenario (not to mention basic genetic issues with the incest, should children ever be attempted, which they shouldn't be).
That was my "sipping brandy while having a calm rational emotionless discussion" version, and in that mode, I can concede that if such issues are somehow resolved in some way or another, then there wouldn't be any other reason to ban them. That said, since gay couples meet in the same way and have the same basic levels of consent as straight, none of those issues apply there.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)