Conservative and Orthodox religions *should* be at the forefront to “take marriage back” from government.
The way to do this is to first to agree among themselves what standards should exist, that all agree are the basic requirements for marriage. Then those that permit divorce agree among themselves what basic standards exist for divorce.
This is the baseline for all. Each religion may “add to” these requirements, but they cannot “delete from them.”
Then the hard part: all must agree to *only* recognize marriages and divorces that conform to these standards. That is, in their religion, *only* those people who have been married and/or divorced under these rules will be considered married.
That is, “You may call yourself ‘Mr.’ and ‘Mrs.’, and say you are married, but as far as all of these religions are concerned, you are *not* married, but instead are ‘living in sin’.”
Importantly, along with their religion, this permits people who belong to that religion to discriminate against people who are “not married but say they are”. That is, nobody has to accept that “government marriage” is equal to “religious marriage” anymore.
I agree and believe that most of what we see happening within our culture can be laid at the feet of the church. If they don’t have standards and fight for their doctrines and beliefs, who will? The church in the US is not much more than a social club. It sleeps in the light while the world is overcome with darkness.