It seems that in even today's society that the tradition of loyalty towards your blood kin is heavily emphasised. Many people, especially the eldest members of the family, believe that you have an obligation to always be helpful and forgiving to those who simply share your blood, even if the person in question may be an absolutely awful human being (I do not mean awful in the trivial sense but rather like lets say sociopaths). Should we always have to love and care for our kin better than we would for any other human being simply because of their relation? For example, if I was holding on to my friend (I mean real friend, one that I hold a deep bond with rather than a "Facebook friend) with one hand and on to a cousin I hardly know in the other, and I can only save one from falling off a cliff, would I have an automatic obligation to save the cousin simply because of familial ties? Does blood matter?
Meh, society still places too high a value on the Nuclear family and extended kinship network. Blood means hardly anything except that you share blood.
It was probably evolved as it has an evolutionary benefit, if you protect and look after those with genes close to yours your genes will get passed on. Got to love science...
I don't think it does. America has been the birthplace of my family for awhile now, and I'm not to happy with it.
I'm not 100% happy with my blood, except my family,which i grew up with. I don't think it matters. It's almost as bad as the opinions this world has now.
Meh. My cousins, aunts, and uncles barely know me as a person. My friends know me much better. I'd be more likely to choose my friends over my family. The only major exceptions would be my mother, my father, my brother, and my grandmother.
To emphasize on what Ennie said, it is more about how well you know people. You will be more likely to help those you know and like instead of your great-uncle Larry from the other side of the world whom you've met twice in your life.
If you were asking that origional question literally, then yes, blood does matter. It is what keeps us alive.
Since you posed the question more like why does the Queen of England have to be a blood relative of the former Queen, I have to say that blood is one of the most trivial and silly things that planet earth ever came up with.
I personally don't think it should matter. In Christianity, all men are equal, since they all come from the same blood line (Adam and Eve). Therefore, we are all "blood" and "family", so there is no difference between your sibling or, lets say, Mahmoud over in Afghanistan. I would be equally disturbed if my sibling or Mahmoud were regular Ted Bundys.
I agree with Mage. I do hold my immediate family dear. I've gone through much heartache when it comes to my extended family. Quite honestly, I don't feel that I have any obligations to them, considering what has happened.
Do I think people should be judged by lineage? Of course not, that's ridiculous. People should be judged by their own actions, not the actions of some irrelevant ancestor.
I don't think it's in the blood, if one of my family members were kind, then I'd be kind to them in return and help them. But if one of them was a thief, murderer, psychopath, etc, I'd probably outright murder them in they're sleep and dump the body into the ocean.
In most societies, "blood" doesn't matter. It's just a silly thing.
This reminds me of HP where Hermione is a Muggle-born and Draco treats her with disrespect just because she doesn't have wizard parents though she's a better wizard than all of them. Which brings me to the point in which blood doesn't matter.
