Re: Getting married within family
more inter-marriage that goes on in a blood-line, the more prone the offspring are to genetic abnormalities.
Actually the argument goes both ways.
The anthropology teacher I took for undergrad was of the belief that the as it is more likely for weaker genes to follow the off springs, it is even more likely for the stronger genes to be passed on. And therefore the overall health of the society with inter-marriages is stronger than the ones that don't practice it at all. He made everyone in class read a bunch of medical papers on this issue. But while all the papers admitted that contrary to common belief inter-marriages are more beneficial than harmful, inter-marriages for a very long period of time limit the gene pool.