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SECTION III.
INCEST.
INCEST is an unnatural and criminal cohabitation of persons within prohibited degrees of kindred.
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GOD forbids incest and has mercifully implanted in the human heart an abhorrence of this crime, and thereby banished every sexual propensity toward
those who are near of kin. Were it not for this; was that propensity felt or indulged in the familiar intercourse of domestic life, it would prove injurious
to virtue, and dangerous to the welfare and happiness of the community.
Incest is condemned by the whole world. The estimate of its criminality appears to be independent
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The indifference with which the crime of incest appears to be considered, and the low standard of Christian morals, at the present day, render it proper to
enlarge upon this subject, beyond what at first view might perhaps be thought necessary. Truths, generally acknowledged and taken for granted, do not always
sufficiently impress the public mind.