Reply #283: I'd prefer to see all marriages be civil unions, as is the case in

[Lydia Leftcoast]

both most of Europe and Asia.

America is one of the few countries in the industrialized world that makes marriages legal simply through a religious ceremony. In most countries, it is registering at city hall that makes a marriage legal, and the religious ceremony is optional.

I'd like to see the civil union system put in place here for both same-sex and heterosexual unions, so that we could get rid of the red herring of conservative religious groups squawking about being "forced" to perform same-sex marriages--a red herring because clergy have always reserved the right to refuse a religious ceremony to any heterosexual couple whose union they disapprove of for whatever reason.