I can see it both ways. I think it would be better for the sanctity of marriage if it was, in fact, purely a religious commitment and sacrament, and if the state stayed out of the equation altogether. But, on the other hand, I have two teenage daughters, and I very much hope that someday they'll marry and have children. If there are NO laws around marriage, what sort of protections will society provide for my daughters and grandchildren? Will my daughters even be able to find good young men to marry? Or, will marriage be one of those things that the young men consider "gay"-- i.e., not something that a real guy does?
Whatever happens, I hope it happens fast, because my daughters will be ready for marriage within the next ten years, and if they don't marry and have children during those years, they're unlikely to do so at all. And, more than anything, I want them to have the joys of a loving family life.
Good point -- my daughter is married and we have no grandchildren, so I hadn't thought of it from that perspective. Really, though, the bottom line is that government should have stayed out of it in the first place, but it's too late now.
Carolyn