Explanation for things that are legal but have strong social stigma against them

[cowardescent]

Does anyone have an explanation for this. Most core things that we're taught not to do as kids that carry on into adulthood are things that tend to be not only immoral but illegal (cheating, stealing, violence).

Almost everything that is looked down upon by society condemned by the law. However there are exceptions to this, the ones notably being incest and suicide. Across all cultures, they are generally not prosecutable by law (incest of non-immediate family members like cousins is allowed in many countries). Along with ending your life. Despite this, there is a strong social stigma against them, just as strong as there is against serious crimes it makes you wonder the disconnect. Also, few people engage in incest/suicide

If they are condemned so much, why are they legal? I know people say incest is repulsive for evolutionary reasons (to prevent defective offspring) and the repulsion is seen in cultures 1000s of years ago. Suicide is also viewed evolutionary as bad for a social group (waste of resources, emotional damage to family) so it's condemned for those reasons.

 

[Foreigner]

Last time I checked, both suicide and incest are illegal in most of North America.

 

[Asante]

Suicide illegal? What do they give you, the death penalty?

 

[Deru]

Incest and suicide are definitely illegal, at least in the US, although no penalty has ever been given for suicide, for the obvious reasons. Unless you consider some old common laws where you were buried with a stake through your body under public highways, obviously as a deterrent to prevent people from commiting suicide.

 

[Gormur]

I argue that incest is a form of survival in extreme environments, and no I'm not talking about marrying your cousin which isn't incest by the way

Honestly, I don't know about social stigmas. I don't sense them but I've probably learned about them as I went along, growing up then covering my tracks. I wouldn't doubt that stigma is tied to religions that emphasize chastity, so this makes perfect sense. Suicide isn't really about stigmas though. I think it's a behavioral issue like depression

That's not to say I'm against suicide, but I really don't like when it ends up involving other people for no reason. If I ever kill myself I'll just swallow some poison

 

[ageingpartyfiend]

Incest and suicide are definitely illegal, at least in the US, although no penalty has ever been given for suicide, for the obvious reasons. Unless you consider some old common laws where you were buried with a stake through your body under public highways, obviously as a deterrent to prevent people from commiting suicide.

...they were vampires man, not suicides

I wonder what the sentencing guidelines are for suicide thesedays? If it's illegal I'm assuming there will be some

 

[Deru]

...they were vampires man, not suicides

Am I getting those mixed up? I could have sworn there was some sort of common law that listed that as a penalty for suicide, maybe the penalty was used for both? Interesting, if it was, for sure.

 

[ageingpartyfiend]

Am I getting those mixed up? I could have sworn there was some sort of common law that listed that as a penalty for suicide, maybe the penalty was used for both? Interesting, if it was, for sure.

you must be, cos yeah they were definitely vampires

 

[Vastness]

Consensual incest while it might be a little repulsive to many people does not seem to be an obviously immoral act.

The fact that people find something off-putting is not in itself a good enough reason for it to be made illegal, and this is a good thing, and a protection against ingrained cultural prejudices which don't actually have any rational basis leading to unjust prosecutions.

You don't want to live in a society where the law stems from unchallenged groupthink and ancient cultural traditions with little sense or relevance in the present day, like the idea that for women to show their hair outside or speak to men outside their family is something distasteful. Islamic theocracies, for example.