[BikerNYC]

Marriage is a covenant between a man, a woman, and God.

It can be, but it doesn't have to be. Many people decide to get married by a justice of the peace, outside of a house of worship. It's pretty clear that marriage does not have to be religiously based.

[brbethke]

That's the essence of my argument. In this country, marriage is two different things:

• civil marriage, which is a contract between two people to essentially form a peculiar form of limited corporation with certain tax and benefits implications and a body of law that governs the distribution of the assets in the event of the dissolution of the partnership, and
   
• religious marriage, which is a sacrament whose terms are defined by the denomination or sect to which you belong

Most of the current hysteria over gay marriage seems to be coming from people who can't distinguish between the two ideas and who are demanding that the state regulate a religious sacrament, thereby conceding that the state has the legitimate right to do so.

As a Christian and a libertarian, I say, let consenting adults form whatever kind of stupid legal partnerships they want to. Just don't force my church to bless the resulting mess.