Birmingham: The best place to be a muslim

[lilelvis2000]

Do Hindus make a habit of marrying their first cousins?

I bet they don't.

Which might go a long way in explanation.

Cousin marriages are not prohibited in Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and most Christian churches.

I think in parts its seen as a way of a) keeping wealth in the family and b) keeping the family happy. With a) used by the wealthy and b) used by the poor.

[xoggoth]

I can't help but see evidence for principle 3b of my simple theory of mankind at work here. If the negative perceptions of any group rises, that of other groups will fall as most have no capacity for seeing too many enemies.

[xoggoth]

13 times the rate of stillbirths and genetic defects compared to the population in general is not a persuasive argument for the practice.

BBC NEWS | Programmes | Newsnight | The risks of cousin marriage

[lilelvis2000]

Indeed not, unless you persist for n generations just to make sure of a wide range of recessive genes getting their day in the sun.

Yeah, but its all the will of Allah in the end innit? I know of a couple who are first cousins, the man's side has had 3 generations of 1st cousins marrying. The couple wonder why each of their newborn has died within weeks. I would blurt it out, but I'd touch a culture nerve now wouldn't I?

I think Hindus are prevented from doing the same for 5 generations.

All I know is that in Pakistani culture its rare to marry cross-caste. and in Mirpur its even rarer NOT to marry your first-cousin.

Indians perform better because many have come from Africa and thus were integrated there for a couple of generations. They are accustomed to making a new country home very quickly.

[amcdonald]

Do Hindus make a habit of marrying their first cousins?

I bet they don't.

Which might go a long way in explanation.

It's common practice in parts of Cornwall as well

[Pondlife]

It's common practice in parts of Cornwall as well

Generally in Cornwall marrying your 1st cousin is only ever acceptable to a family where they don't have both a son and a daughter.

[lilelvis2000]

It's common practice in parts of Cornwall as well

what about Norfolk?

[sasguru]

what about Norfolk?

There, you marry your chicken. Hence the webbed feet.

[amcdonald]

what about Norfolk?

Allegedly it is, but I've not been there since the 70's so I wouldn't be sure

[minestrone]

Define 3rd world. India and China were so defined in the 60s and 70s but I'm not sure they can be defined as such now.
And I see long-term advantages in having large populations from both countries here in the UK as those countries (parts of them anyway) become rich.

Hindus and Chinese people seem to integrate well anyway, so I'm not sure of Xog's tribal point.
It does seem to me (having lived in a Muslim area, Tower Hamlets) to be a religious problem in that the insularity and the assumed superiority complex of Islamic young men (that deep down is an inferiority complex) is to blame.

While the influx of Chinese in the middle of the 20th century may have been from the prosperous and intelligent what is coming now tends to be from the wrong end of the dining table.

Your average Chinese immigrant these days has probably paid to get in illegal, has no qualifications and will end up working as, pretty much, slave labour. A million miles away from the "Child, I want those fingers to bleed on that Stradivarius tonight or else you don't eat for 2 days" Hong Kong business set.