Posted on 12/15/2010 9:45:01 AM PST by wmfights
There are certain questions now pressed upon us that previous generations would never believe could be asked. One of these is thrust upon us by events in New York City, where a well-known Ivy League professor has been arrested for the crime of incest. What makes the question urgent is not so much the arrest, but the controversy surrounding it.
David Epstein is a professor of political science at Columbia University, where his wife also teaches. He previously taught on the faculties of Harvard and Stanford. Last week, he was arraigned before a judge in Manhattan, charged with a single count of felony incest. According to authorities, Professor Epstein was for several years involved in a sexual relationship with his adult daughter, now age 24.
Though the story was ignored by much of the mainstream media, it quickly found its way into the cultural conversation. William Saletan of Slate.com, who remains one of today’s most relevant writers working on the issues of bioethics and human nature, jumped on the story with a very interesting essay that openly asked the question many others were more quietly asking: “If homosexuality is OK, why is incest wrong?”
After reviewing the various legal arguments used to justify criminalizing incest, Saletan comes to the conclusion that genetics cannot be the fundamental basis, since incestuous sex could be non-reproductive. Similarly, the basic issue cannot be consent, since no one is arguing in this case that the sex was non-consensual.
He gets the liberal response just about right: “At this point, liberals tend to throw up their hands. If both parties are consenting adults and the genetic rationale is bogus, why should the law get involved? Incest may seem icky, but that’s what people said about homosexuality, too. It’s all private conduct.”
Saletan comes to the conclusion that the basic reason for the wrongfulness of incest is damage to the family unit. As an Ohio court ruled, “A sexual relationship between a parent and child or a stepparent and stepchild is especially destructive to the family unit.”
Now, remember that Saletan raised the issue of the morality of incest as related to the question of homosexuality. He argues that the family-damage argument against incest does not apply to homosexuality. In his words: “When a young man falls in love with another man, no family is destroyed.”
Saletan’s argument is easy to follow, and if you accept his fundamental premise, it can even make sense. But his fundamental premise assumes that there is no damage to a particular family unit if a homosexual relationship exists. That argument can be made only by ignoring the impact upon a family of origin. Beyond this, it limits the family-damage argument to an individual family, when the argument must be more broadly applied to the family as an institution.
This article is a very interesting window into the sexual confusions that lie at the heart of our age. To his credit, Saletan gets the conservative argument basically right:
The conservative view is that all sexual deviance—homosexuality, polyamory, adultery, bestiality, incest—violates the natural order. Families depend on moral structure: Mom, Dad, kids. When you confound that structure—when Dad sleeps with a man, Dad sleeps with another woman, or Mom sleeps with Grandpa—the family falls apart. Kids need clear roles and relationships. Without this, they get disoriented. Mess with the family, and you mess up the kids.
That’s a pretty fair summary. Of course, the Christian argument goes much deeper than the merely conservative argument, affirming the fact that, with exacting precision, God has spoken to the sinfulness of such behaviors — specifically condemning both homosexuality and incest. In other words, Christians move the question from mere wrongfulness to sinfulness and place all issues of sin within the biblical account of sin and redemption.
It is extremely revealing that, for many of our fellow citizens, incest may merely “seem icky.” And yet, all around us are folks who, with a straight face, deny the inevitability of this slippery slope.
It turns out your teacher should have given you an A+.
Freepmail wagglebee to subscribe or unsubscribe from the homosexual agenda or moral absolutes ping list.
FreeRepublic homosexual agenda keyword search
[ Add keyword homosexual agenda to flag FR articles to this ping list ]
FreeRepublic moral absolutes keyword search
[ Add keyword moral absolutes to flag FR articles to this ping list ]
Soon it will be consensual incest, Polygamy,then pedophilia, then Beastiality.
Why not? Look at the case with this Ivy league Professor and his 24 year old daughter. Hey, who are they hurting? /s
An Ivy League College Professor just got caught have an incestuous relationship with his 24 yr old daughter that was consensual.
That was McKenzie Phillips, daugher of John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas........
I think she was trying to rejuvenate her lost child star status and raise some cash to buy more drugs........
Well, if it’s a ‘consentual’ relationship, shouldn’t the daughter also be charged?
No one here thinks that way. You can say it's not funny but, come on, you honestly believe FReepers think these teacher/student relationships are "A-OK"?
Are you saying that the government is going to ‘mandate’ the purchasing of Llamas?
Because my sister, wonderful woman that she is, is also not attractive to me. Nor is my mom. Nor are my daughters.
I got a cousin thats kind of cute, but she is really high maintenance.
Yes ... some do. Not all. Not even most. But there is a noticeable and vocal minority who give every impression, to a reasonable (IMO) reader, that they truly and sincerely condone female teacher/male student "relationships".
“victims of homosexual molestation”
yes, that is what I should’ve clarified.
An observation that explains so much. Of course, if you examine a photograph of Prince Charles and read any of his commentary on any topic whatsoever you'll know that inbreeding is not limited to the rural poor or His Royal Highness' fellow Muslims.
From the teeter-totter scene in National Lampoons’ “Vacation” - “Daddy says I’m the best”.
That will take another ten years, but as a subsidy to the powerful "llama llobby": Yes, you will be required to purchase and marry a llama. A mere alpaca or vicuna will not do, either. It must be a llama.
BTW, what's that flower you've got on? Could it be a faded rose from days gone by?
Well isn't that just special!</gay voice>
Homosexuality is now considered normal.
Incest not bad.
Polygamy not harmful.
Hey we only have a few to go to satisfy the liberals by allowing everything except conservative thought. Ah diversity and tolerance are a beautiful thing in the mind of a liberal. Their version of diversity of course.
It must be okay, they pass hate crime laws to protect homosexuals don’t they? They even hire queer education czars to teach your kids how kid it all is.
Well, at least that's a step down from "a great many on this forum". Still, I think you are mistaking crude humor for real convictions.
Get rid of incest, polygamy, bestiality laws.. and pretty soon you will end up being Saudi Arabia.. or Somalia.. or Detroit..
I'm sure that you do think that. I think that humor is very self-revelatory, and folks let out their true convictions in the form of a joke more often than they realize.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.