On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 23:12:23 -0500, "Daniel J. Stern"
> wrote:

>On Thu, 11 Nov 2004, Bill Putney wrote:
>
>> And to the guy who wants to marry his sister, or his dog, or a tree, or
>> a rock - what do you tell him?
>
>Ah, Bill's true colors finally show through.
>
>You tell him, Bill, that his dog, his tree or his rock is not sentient and
>is therefore unable to give consent, and that family members are
>prohibited from intermarrying for medical reasons.
>
>DS

Well, tongue in cheek or not, declaring what's sentient and what's not
can be tricky.
There are people who claim to be able to understand what animals are
thinking. *I* think they're frauds, but who's to say with authority?
And as for laws governing marriage between close blood relatives, what
if one or both are 'fixed' so children are not possible?
Point being, once you open the door to such things, well, there's the
camel.

Bill Funk
Change "g" to "a"