The Downside of Whackjob Religions

You know, I had sketched out a funny but really offensive commentary about this article. But then, the descriptions of the kids actually made my heart grow three sizes today. Yeah, so I'll break from tradition and pull a punch or two.

A rare, severe birth defect is on the rise in an inbred polygamous community on the Utah-Arizona border, according to a doctor who has treated many of the children.

Intermarriage among close relatives is producing children who have two copies of a recessive gene for a debilitating condition called fumarase deficiency. The enzyme irregularity causes severe mental retardation, epileptic seizures and other effects that often leaves children unable to take care of themselves.
...

"Ninety percent of the community is related to one side or the other," said Bistline, a former member of the sect, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

"They claim to be the chosen people, the chosen few," Bistline said. "And their claim is they marry closely to preserve the royal bloodline, so to speak."

If you'll just indulge me for a moment, I have a message for the Mormons: Please stop fucking your cousins.

Thank you.