Same-clan marriages are perfectly alright<\/a>,” News Vision, 12 September 2006].<\/p>\nEven though the law changed, societal tradition has not changed as quickly. Therefore, traditionally, the very fact that you are having sex with a woman who is in your same clan was a crime. Legally, it is no longer a crime. However, I note that you have been breaking tradition for eight years, and no one seems to care.<\/p>\n
After living with this woman for eight years, you are claiming that you don’t want to marry her. This only comes up because your first child mysteriously died. You wonder if the death of your daughter was due to a genetic problem because you are from the same clan, but this is merely speculation. Since you did not know that the woman you have been living with was a member of your clan, it would seem that the two of you are not closely related. The odds that the child died due to genetic issues are very small.<\/p>\n
Your second excuse is that you are in too much debt to get married, but these debts are not stopping you from living with this woman nor are they stopping you from trying to have children together.<\/p>\n
Therefore, what we have are two people who flagrantly violate God’s law that requires a man and a woman to get married\u00a0before<\/strong> having sex (Hebrews 13:4). They then think they can continue their sin because tradition frowns on two people of the same clan getting married. Still, as I pointed out, this is inconsistent. If you couldn’t get married, then you could not be having sex according to that same tradition.<\/p>\nIt doesn’t matter if you can’t have a traditional marriage. You can get married legally in Uganda with a civil wedding. God doesn’t specify what kind of marriage you have, only that you must be married to have sex.<\/p>\n
Sadly, your final excuse is that God isn’t directly telling you what to do. Even if God chose to directly speak to people (which He said ended a long time ago (I Corinthians 13:8-10)), you are living in direct conflict with God’s laws, and then want God to tell you to obey His laws? He has already done so! “Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge<\/em>” (Hebrews 13:4). So, when are you going to start listening to God?<\/p>\n\tResponse:<\/h2>\n
Amen. I am ready to listen to Him now.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Hi, I am from Uganda. I have lived with my girlfriend for 8 years, but it was only a few months back that I realized we belong to the same clan. I love my girlfriend because she has been there for me, but the problem is, I need a holy marriage. This last summer…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[1572,64],"class_list":["post-26518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-fornication","tag-marriage"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":44492,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-father-refuses-to-consent-to-my-marriage-because-my-girlfriend-comes-from-the-same-clan-though-we-are-only-distantly-related\/","url_meta":{"origin":26518,"position":0},"title":"My father refuses to consent to my marriage because my girlfriend comes from the same clan, though we are only distantly related","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 31, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I just read a reply you made to someone about\u00a0marrying without parental consent. I happen to be in a similar situation right now. I hail from a village in Nigeria where marriage within the same clan is considered taboo irrespective of how distant the relationship is. My fiancee\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47083,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-girlfriend-left-me-twice-and-is-now-pregnant-by-the-other-man-how-do-i-get-past-her-past\/","url_meta":{"origin":26518,"position":1},"title":"My girlfriend left me twice and is now pregnant by the other man. How do I get past her past?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 5, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I met this lady, several years ago. I loved her so much. I told her and we became friends. Later she dropped me and went with another person she loved, though she didn't tell me. I still loved her so much that we got back together and this same\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31736,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-i-fear-im-going-to-lose-my-girlfriend\/","url_meta":{"origin":26518,"position":2},"title":"Why do I fear I’m going to lose my girlfriend?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why do I keep getting these bad thoughts and fear that my girlfriend is going to cheat on me or leave me? I want to know why. I pray and they go away, then they come back again. I want to know why. Do I need help or is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42056,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-girlfriend-and-i-broke-up-because-i-dont-believe-as-she-does\/","url_meta":{"origin":26518,"position":3},"title":"My girlfriend and I broke up because I don’t believe as she does","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 3, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My girlfriend is a strong Christian and whereas I am a Christian, I don't exactly share the same beliefs as her. We recently broke up after three years because her parents wouldn't allow it. I respect her beliefs, and I have been willing to hear more about it, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34160,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-in-love-with-a-man-who-has-a-girlfriend-whom-he-got-pregnant-should-i-marry-him\/","url_meta":{"origin":26518,"position":4},"title":"I’m in love with a man who has a girlfriend whom he got pregnant. Should I marry him?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 20, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I am 30 years of age, born again, having a boyfriend near my age also born again. We are related according to our culture as our mothers share the same clan name. We deeply love each other and all our conversations are always about God. We help each\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44691,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-talk-to-a-friend-who-has-started-experimenting-with-sex\/","url_meta":{"origin":26518,"position":5},"title":"How do I talk to a friend who has started experimenting with sex?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good evening sir, Sadly I write to you seeking some sort of advice as I am not only troubled but do not know how to handle this situation. One of my friends throughout high school and now college (although she is closer to my girlfriend) just did something I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26518\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}