[elwoodblues]

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Marriage is nothing but a contract

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Simply not true. Marriage is, in part, similar to a contract.

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Except for the tax issue (which wouldn't be an issue if gov't took a neutral stance on marriage), all of these issues could be addressed by traditional marriage. In the absence of a legal contract, your church has rules. If you have no church, then write a contract.

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I am having a really hard time understanding your points here, but only to the extent that the government recognizes a change of status can certain rights related to marriage be conferred. The change in status is what makes marriage different from a contract.

I think a better analogy is maybe some sort of business entity. People can make a contract to create a certain type of business, but that business type (partnership, limited partnership, corporation, etc.) only has teeth because of the government's recognition of the business type and the govenment's decision to confer certain rights/responsibilities upon it.