>Going by the Bible, laws restricting "incestuous" marriages were not
>restricted until the time of Moses which was much after Abraham (see
>Genesis 20:12) which was after Noah. So, God did not specifically
>forbid sibling marriage until well after the flood. In addition, if
>(as I believe) the only human beings left on the earth after the
>flood were Noah and his descendents, there would be no civil
>authority to prohibit sibling marriage.
>
Let me suggest a distinction I think is being missed here. It is true that
the laws against incestuous relations were written down during Moses time,
but that does not mean that they weren't in effect earlier. The law against
murder was also written at that time, but that does not mean that murder was
therefore OK prior to Moses. God took a dim view of Cain's slaying of Abel.
By the logic of the above, one would conclude that like incest, murder was
not forbidden before Moses and neither was stealing, adultery or anything else.
>> But any good breeder trying to rebuild a population from a few
>> founders will tell you, you are better off to only allow the most
>> distantly related individuals breed.
>
>Without going into too much detail, YEC (of which I am proud to say
>I am one) believe that prior to the flood the earth was shielded from
>solar and galactic radiation by the canopy of water that is
>discussed in Gen. 1:6-7.
As a former YEC (of which I am less proud), I had some discussions with Jody
Dillow about this issue years ago. When he came out with his book, The
Waters Above, p. 170, he wrote,
"Experiments have bee conducted in which mice were placed hundreds of feet
below the ground to shield them from all cosmic radiation. There was no
idnication of an increase in longevity in either the parents or their
offspring."
"So it appears that canopy theorists have been in error when they
appealed to the shielding effect of the canopy as a direct explanation for
antediluvian longevity."
On page 169 he wrote:
"Many studies have been performed on mice to determine the effects of X-rays
and gamma radiation on longevity. However present evidence suggests a
shortening of human life of 11% per 1,000 rads for an entire lifetime.
Since Table 5.5 indicates that the average dosage a man receives is only 12
rads in a lifetime (0.192 rad/yr x 67 yrs), we can see that present
radiation levels have no effect on reduced longevity."
>It is proposed by certain modern scientists
>that the current (so-called) depletion of the ozone layer is causing
>and will cause an increase in cancer due to the ionizing radiation
>breaking down the protein molecules in cells. If the ozone layer
>currently protects us from radiation, how much more so did the water
>canopy shield the pre-flood inhabitants of the earth from radiation.
> Hence, life was longer and the deteriorating effects we currently
>see in aging and disease would be drastically lessened. When the
>canopy was removed at the flood (which was partially the cause of
>the flood), the shield was gone and the deteriorating effects of
>radiation increased, resulting in mutations, shortened lives, and
>the current state of the world. This agrees with the Bible's
>depiction of life then.
If this is so, then I would expect people in Denver to live shorter, less
rewarding lives than people in Houston. there is less atmospheric shielding
in Denver or even Golden, Colorado. but this does not seem to be significant.
>
>Because of this, there was no need to prohibit sibling marriage until
>after the flood. Any breeder will tell you that the reason you do
>not mate siblings of a litter is that defective genes tend to
>increase through in-breeding due to probabalistic matchings. If
>there were no defective genes, there would be no problem with
>in-breeding.
>
>In summary, sibling marriage was perfectly acceptable from a
>Biblical, political and scientific point of view (YEC point of view)
>until much after the flood, wherein the increased radiation caused
>more genetic mutations and hence needed control.
Dillow further writes:
"Furthermore, these studies involve bombardment with X-rays and, even
without a canopy, no X-rays reach the surface of the earth. Only visible
and some ultraviolet and infrared radiation reaches the surface in any
appreciable amount. Ultraviolet radiation will not penetrate deeply below
the skin. So while it is probable that somatic mutations have an effect on
the aging process, it seems fairly well established that cosmic radiation
contributes only in a minor way to somatic mutation." p. 169-170
Thus, the radiation we have on earth does not cause germ cell mutation in
any appreciable quantities.
glenn
Foundation, Fall and Flood
http://www.isource.net/~grmorton/dmd.htm