+1
I'm offended. I'm married to my first cousin and my kids are extremely intelligent. I have friends who are married to first cousins and have intelligent children with nothing wrong with them whatsoever.
aliadiere, 20yearstoolong and hassan,
I am sorry you guys got offended by my post the other day. It was not a personal attack on anyone. May be I should not have mentioned cousin marriages. May be I should have understood that many people on this forum were married to their cousins. Please forgive me for my harsh words.
However, I do stand by the points I made in my post earlier on this thread. I am also, like many of you, from Pakistan. Along with the religion, I do see deep flaws in culture as well. Any cultural practices which cause unnecessary problems and becomes a hurdle in personal or communal development should be picked up...... by smart people.
Being poor 60 years ago is a different thing and staying backward, while having financial security and access to education, is entirely a different case.