Marriage should be a sacrament, a channel of God's grace to bless the union of a man and woman...otherwise, it's just a contract between two people to give them a legal right to sexual exclusivity for the duration of the contract...not nearly the same thing.
Even though my husband has died, there are so many things that I remember and treasure about our wedding.
Tucked away in my "Treasure Box of Memories."
It's not even that. With decriminalization of adultery and introduction of no-fault divorce the civil marriage stopped being a contract between two people. It is now nothing other than a durable universal power of attorney revokable unilaterally and at will.
Ourside of the church, there is nothing left in the civil institution of marriage worth fighting for. I am glad that the prospect of gay civil "marriage" energizes so many people, but the real damage to the civil society was done decades ago in the West. The perpetrators were mostly straight.
The difference between a covenant and a contract in a nutshell. In a covenant persons exchange themselves to each other. A contract is merely an exchange of goods or property.
A covenant is formed by swearing an oath (sacramentum).