OMG
Incestuous 'Flowers in the Attic' Siblings Deserve Sympathy Not Sentencing
Want to know what is really, really unsexy? Incest. Yep, I think even among those of us who have different sexual needs and desires and who like to mix it up, we can universally agree that brothers and sisters and fathers and daughters and mothers and sons is all kind of yucky, gross, and icky. But the laws that make it illegal are there for a reason. Clearly someone thought it wasn't very gross at all.
In Germany, a brother and sister who have four children together were just informed by a European court that their union is considered incest and that the conviction the brother faces for it still stands.
It's like the real life Flowers in the Attic, but gross as it is, I also see their point.
Unlike most brothers and sisters, Patrick Stuebing and Susan Karolewski had never even met until they were in their 20s. He had been placed in foster care as a child, so he only met his sister late in life. When they met, sparks flew.
OK, gross. I know. But, in this case, while I am not justifying it, I also think throwing him in jail (which is what happened) is a little abnormally harsh. This isn't the only time this has happened, either.
In 2011, a father and daughter who were reunited did the same thing. While yes, it's sick and kind of makes me want to throw my breakfast up, the fact is, these are consenting adults.
The reason incest is illegal is usually for the children, and in this case, their decision to have children did result in disabilities. So while their relationship itself isn't wrong, their decision to have children is.
The government really can't step in and regulate a couple of consenting adults. Sure, we would love to think that all people will make good decisions and not have children if they shouldn't, but it isn't up to the government to decide who can and can't love each other.
The fact is 99.9999999 percent of us are utterly repulsed by the idea of incest and those who aren't are not criminals. They are likely just lonely and in need of love and who knows what else. We should pity them and sympathize, not throw them in jail.
Do you think this couple deserved jail?
Image via Ken_Mayer/Flickr
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ele4phant
writingafwife
Weren't the characters in Flowers in the Attic Uncle and Neice? That movie is sooo sad makes me cry everytime.
smtxcowgirl
Actually, if you read the whole series, you learned that Chris and Corrine were really half-brother and half-sister, not uncle and niece as they originally believed. They continued their relationship even after they found out.
After being in the attic for 5 years, brother and sister Christopher Jr and Catherine developed an incestual relationship, which continued until the day Chris Jr. died many years later.
blh
JustMe
SwePea
Elizabeth
the4mutts
Plenty of people have high risks for certain genetic disabilities, and choose to have kids anyway. Like when downs syndrome runs in the family. Its not guaranteed that YOUR child will have it, but its a risk.
Its not guaranteed that incestual relations will breed disabilities, is just a higher than average risk.
Also, these people are adults, and were not raised as relatives.
Its a point of worry for me with parent/child relations, because it makes you wonder what the parent did to the child when the child was underaged.
It may not be my cup of tea, but they're adults, and should be left alone
princezzmommie
fact remains, if they knew they were siblings, they knew they were breaking the law and they chose to take the risk. now that they got caught and its time to face the risk they took, they want to cry off? doesn't work that way. is there any country in the world that allows this?
plus, how gross is that?
JustMe