{"id":312,"date":"2010-12-15T14:56:19","date_gmt":"2010-12-15T14:56:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/flirtingwithfaith\/2010\/12\/are-we-on-the-road-to-legalizing-incest-the-rise-and-fall-of-taboos-in-a-changing-society.html"},"modified":"2010-12-15T14:56:19","modified_gmt":"2010-12-15T14:56:19","slug":"are-we-on-the-road-to-legalizing-incest-the-rise-and-fall-of-taboos-in-a-changing-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flirtingwithfaith\/2010\/12\/are-we-on-the-road-to-legalizing-incest-the-rise-and-fall-of-taboos-in-a-changing-society.html","title":{"rendered":"Are We on the Road to Legalizing Incest?: The Rise and Fall of Taboos in a Changing Society"},"content":{"rendered":"

Columbia University Professor David Epstein was arrested last week <\/a>and charged with having “consensual” sexual relationship with his 24-year-old daughter. Epstein’s lawyer, Matthew Galluzzo, tells ABCNews.com: <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\n
“Academically, we are obviously all morally opposed to incest and rightfully so. <\/span>At the same time, there is an argument to be made in the Swiss case<\/a> to let go what goes on privately in bedrooms.” <\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Galluzzo goes on to say, <\/span><\/p>\n


<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
“<\/span>It’s OK for homosexuals to do whatever they want in their own home…How is this so different? We have to figure out why some behavior is tolerated and some is not.”<\/span><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n
In an interview with the Huffington Post<\/a>, Galuzzo also questions whether “prosecuting incest was ‘intellectually consistent’ with the repeal of anti-sodomy laws that resulted from Lawrence v. Texas<\/a><\/em> in 2003″ and asserts that “what goes on between consenting adults in private should not be legislated” because the bedroom “is not the proper domain of our law.”<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
ABC News is now crowdsourcing on Facebook<\/a>, “should incest between consenting adults be legal?”  <\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
While there will surely be much blogosphere debate about the content of this question, I find myself drawn to some larger issues this case raises. Specifically, I wonder where and how societal norms are created and enforced when there is no “true north” by which to navigate? I am also interested in Galluzzo’s distinction between being “academically morally opposed” to incest and noting that “an argument can be made” for it?  Does this mean that legal arguments do\/should always trump morality? <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Love to hear your thoughts on this…<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Columbia University Professor David Epstein was arrested last week and charged with having “consensual” sexual relationship with his 24-year-old daughter. Epstein’s lawyer, Matthew Galluzzo, tells ABCNews.com:  “Academically, we are obviously all morally opposed to incest and rightfully so. At the same time, there is an argument to be made in the Swiss case to let go…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":181,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spiritual-growth"],"yoast_head":"\nAre We on the Road to Legalizing Incest?: The Rise and Fall of Taboos in a Changing Society - Flirting with Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flirtingwithfaith\/2010\/12\/are-we-on-the-road-to-legalizing-incest-the-rise-and-fall-of-taboos-in-a-changing-society.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are We on the Road to Legalizing Incest?: The Rise and Fall of Taboos in a Changing Society - Flirting with Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Columbia University Professor David Epstein was arrested last week and charged with having “consensual” sexual relationship with his 24-year-old daughter. 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