.... Cousin marriage is risky, particularly for groups which have practised it for generations. Closely related first cousins face greater than normal risks of having babies with serious recessive genetic disorders.
To say that is not to criticise anyone for anything. It is not to attack any particular religion or ethnic group or culture. It is merely to state a painful fact, of which people used to be unaware. Did they? My grandmother, who had little education and would never have heard of recessive genes, knew that it wasn't a good idea. Stop making excuses.
In fact, having stated that no "particular religion or ethnic group or culture" is being "attacked", Ms Marrin goes on to make it clear, as did the Dispatches programme, that it is one particular religion and culture: Muslims of Pakistani origin (the programme also mentioned Arabs and Africans). This is not one ethnic group, however - British Hindus and Sikhs do not practise cousin marriage in any significant numbers. [The Iconoclast] Read more
