Religion, is it a big factor or what??????

All my life i have been living with Muslims, Christians and Hindus amongst many but till recently did i realize some interesting facts. it came about when i was telling a friend of mine in 2007 1st year of med school that i was engaged with my cousin (its over thankfully) because he asked me why haven't i bothered to get myself a chick. He was really amazed and astonished about such a statement and asked me 2 times if i was saying the truth. that friend came from a deeply Christian family from Botswana, so i asked him why the amazement and he explained to me that Christians cannot intermarry between cousins.....WOW what an eye opener, i never knew it.

considering that i have seen numerous inter-family marriages in my life and it was just last summer when i was in one wedding where 2 of my cousins got married.....i think that friend of mine could have had a heart-attack if he heard about the numerous inter-family marriages in Muslim families.

To be honest i have nothing against it and if i was eventually supposed to marry a cousin of mine and its with my own choice i could do it. I don't know why people do so but i have theories.....
Theory 1 in the Quran (Muslim holy book) which we consider it to be a perfect code of life there is a verse talking about who we are NOT supposed to marry and cousins were not mentioned
Theory 2 is that i think in wealthy families the family members think that by marrying inside the family, they are gonna be preserving the wealth
Theory 3 is that i think in some families they just want to preserve the bloodline and family name and legacy and traditions

Medically speaking its not advisable for inter-family marriages as there are many inherited genetic diseases, conditions, or even predispositions which can be retained or exacerbated due to genetic inheritance so, its logical that if in a extended family there are conditions like kleinfleters or turners syndrome among many even if both parties are healthy they might be having a recessive gene which when passed to the offspring it may lead to a kid with such diseases with a higher probability. Also predispositions to diseases like hypertension or diabetes should be borne into mind

Another fact is that generally its not allowed to date in Islam and i think in Christianity and i know for sure that premarital sex is not allowed in both.... 1st into dating...for me i think that in the world of today where men and women are allowed to intermingle freely both sexes are bound to experience attractions to one another naturally and with attraction comes dating and with dating comes sex, its like a vicious circle or a code of nature . Dating for me is not a big deal and although religion tells us not to date, i just cant see a way to follow religion in such a matter (mind you I'm not hardcore Muslim and i have my flaws like most people because no one is perfect) we all need companionship, love, caring, understanding, warmth etc and we cannot get them in any other way apart from dating i guess, because i tried other ways like getting indulged too much in video games or football but trust me you wont get those qualities.
In dating one tends to understand the other sex better but much better especially if one has dated with a couple of women/guys, you learn about variants of behaviors expressed by both sexes which expands your sphere and which i guess helps with social skills and also will make you a better partner ahead in marriage and to adapt better in the world by knowing how to deal with a particular sex. We tend to want someone who we can open our hearts and mind to anytime, who can share secrets with us, who can understand us, and who can give us opinions based on our personality and there is no better way according to me other than having a girl/boyfriend #NoHomo..... but the question is, what sort of characters do women want in men and vice versa for example? i as a big guy especially in my high school days experienced some problems in dating due to my weight so i ask again, what do women want?

I'll Save the premarital sex for another day because it is a long topic but i support it to an extent :)

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