FWIW, marriage is primarily a matter of the Church, or the synagogue. But in the West, government has had the job of recording and confirming it, for legal purposes, and because proper marriages are the foundation of a sound society. As long as you have a Christian nation, that works fine.
Now, we are in something of a dilemma. Freedom of religion used to mean freedom to follow a sensible religion. But now it might be Islam, or pot smoking, or Satanism, or Wiccans, or polygamist sects, or who knows what. Where do you draw the line? People used to pretty much agree. But now there is no agreement. We won’t have a healthy marriage situation unless and until our country returns to traditional religious and moral values—not by force, but by consent and conversion freely consented to.
But although the primary authorities over marriage should be the churches, government has a role to play—if we can ever get the current mess straightened out. There is no way that you can have a free society without the widespread moral agreement that comes from religion, and we no longer seem to have that. Which is not to say that we could not have another Great Awakening, which is what is needed.
Bump to an excellent post!