Ex-husband charged with rape after Jeffs guilty verdict

[smokey the elder]

I don't think the problem is polygamy per se. The problem is statutory rape ("16 will get you 20") and borderline incest.

[sirrahved]

The risk of birth defects between first cousins is only 2-3% higher than in couples that are genetically further apart. Compare this to a mother over 40, which raises the risk to 6-8%.

No matter if you believe in creation or evolution we're all related. Some of us just more closely than others.

*edited to add: I'm not defending this guy whatsoever. Rape is rape. No 14 year -old should be married!

[Catty1]

Sirrahved - I would agree with you. The Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg married his first cousin, they had a wonderful marriage and life.

If it's the old "consenting adults", that's fine by me.

This case, however, involved minor girls (never boys) being 'married off' to adult male relatives. Because of the age of the girls, it is seen as child abuse, rape, and/or incest.

It is the age of the female here that makes the difference.