Government sanctioned ‘civil unions’ are the same as government recognized or sanctioned ‘marriage’.
Changing the name will not change the legal aspects of it, however it will destroy the traditional definition of marriage and open it up to all sorts of perversions.
BTW, polygamy was never sanctioned by God. Even in the OT, it is MAN’s doing - not God’s.
It was tolerated. If you mean not sanctioned for everyone, then I understand where you are coming from. Abraham was blessed despite having had a concubine called Hagar, and Jacob was renamed in his famous epic fight with an angel (he was polygamous at the time, having both Leah and Rachel, as well as their handmaidens for concubines). The practice was also tolerated among the Israelites to a limited capacity, under the condition that you could provide for your wives. You were also, under Mosaic Law, supposed to marry your dead brother’s childless wife, even if you were already a married man at the time. Plenty of polygamous marriages in the Old times weren’t condemned by God, as far as I am concerned. Culture changed, however, and so should general practices. However, I am not in any way sympathetic to it now, because of the fact that it operates in defiance to the law(s) and a whole lot more than just plural marriage, such as statuatory rape, kicking out the lost boys, etc. Again, there are many reasons not to legalize it now in modern culture, but there’s no need at the same time to try being some purist about it. I don’t know where you are coming from there.