No. Marriage is not a creation of the church or the State. Marriage is a social institution deemed to be a postive influence on society as a whole. As such, the Government chose to recognize and encourage it by providing certain benefits/incentives.
Replacing marriage with "domestic partnerships" is nothing more than an attempt to destroy the nuclear family, IMO.
See my post #21. Believing in the strength of the nuclear family whilst simultaneously fearing homosexuality as a thread to it is contradictory. Furthermore, I don’t believe in using government power for social engineering, which is really what marriage laws really are if you think about it. As you said yourself, “the Government chose to recognize and encourage it by providing certain benefits/incentives.” Sounds like social engineering to me...