So this is where I completely agree with you. I think we could have and should have done away with secular marriage. And in the 00's this was a common talking p

So this is where I completely agree with you. I think we could have and should have done away with secular marriage. And in the 00's this was a common talking point when the gay marriage debate was at its peak but it didn't pan out because gay people actually wanted to get married and be recognized as husbands and wives even if the marriage wasn't in a church, straight people didn't want to have their marriage certificate change to be a civil union or whatever name, and everyone liked that the thing called marriage conferred real legal rights and responsibilities which made it feel more serious. So now there's a civil marriage and a religious one. For all its flaws it does mean that you can be married without the need for any faith at all if that's your thing. But this semi-intentional blurring of the two things has made it so that Christians view expansion of civil marriage as an attack on the church. Which is frustrating and understandable simultaneously.