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there is, in fact, a third alternative. that is to allow sham marraiges... now im not necessarily for this, but think about it a bit... what if the government leaves true "marraige" up to the churches. what if government developes a whole range of "partnerships" to encourage people to work and live together, for instance as siblings... what is wrong with a couple of old siblings who live together and want to file their taxes together, etc? On the other hand, the purpose of government endorsed marraige is to encourage the traditional family, the strongest building block for our nation....

"what if the government leaves true "marraige" up to the churches. what if government developes a whole range of "partnerships" to encourage people to work and live together, for instance as siblings... "

Go back to my original post on this thread. The privileges of marriage cost the government significantly. Governments extend these privileges *because* they get something in return -- stable families for children to grow up in. That saves the government more than the government's costs of marriage. If we extend these privileges . . . ah . . . promiscuously . . . the government gets an identical return at a much greater cost. From a cost-benefit standpoint, the privileges of marriage are now a net loss to the government -- not a net gain.

Governments tend to be rational in the aggregate. If they cease receiving benefits from a policy they abandon the policy. So the benefits of marriage will be reduced. By reducing the benefits, the utility of marriage is reduced, removing incentives to marry *before* having children.

Over time marriage will be dominated by the religious and by romantic idiots. Since society is marginalizing the religious, the image of marriage will be shaped by the romantic idiots -- those seeking their "soul mates," who cut and run when the going gets tough because that does not match their romantic image of marriage as flowers and song. In other words, the Hollywood marriage will become the norm in secular society. Marriage will be reduced to a short-term partnering a la entertainment stars (who by and large strike me as children that have never grown up.

Of course, this will lead to miserable situations for the real children in society, but that's what happens when you forget that marriage is primarily an institution designed to care for children rather than a ritual to allow adults to "affirm" their beliefs.