[fwdude]

If the government has no business involving itself in marriage, then who officiates conflicts when marriages hit a hard patch, are on the verge of failing, or are contested as to their legitimacy by outside parties? Who assigns responsibility for innocent children of such unions and their support?

There are just too many practical outworkings of marriage for the government to be hands off. It is woven into society, so there are requirements and expectations of the participants. Otherwise, marital anarchy.

[Alberta's Child]

My point is that it should be treated no differently than contract law. It will actually be much more stable that way.

As someone else pointed out earlier in this thread, a contract for a car loan is legally stronger in the U.S. today than a marriage. How pathetic. So the government should treat a marriage like a car loan to make it stronger.