[QUOTE=Punish_her;968111]
1) realize that a marriage and a civil union really aren;t the same thing:
That's certainly true. A marriage gives certain legal benefits that a civil union may not.

a marriage is, in my opinion, a religious ceremony that joins two or more people together in the name of something. A civil union is a legal contract whereby two parties agree to become one financial entity that can jointly own property, make decision for one another should something terrible happen, and be recoganized as "on the same team" so to speak
Wrong! A marriage is a contract sanctioned by the state! Ever try to get married, even in church, without a marriage license? You HAVE to have a state issued license to be considered legally married. The church services are simply rituals imposed upon those members of that church.

2) with that in mind, the fact that there is a seperation of church and state means . . . the gov't has no right saying gays can't marry, but that's a decision for the churches.
Certainly the churches do not have to recognize gay marriages within their congregations! They can, in fact, excommunicate those who participate in such marriages. BUT, they cannot legally ignore such marriages, any more than a Catholic Church, for example, could ignore the legality of a Jewish wedding. If the State of New York licenses a couple as married, whether or not they get married in a church ceremony, they are legally married. The church cannot ignore that legality. They can only place their own moral stamp of disapproval upon it. Which means absolutely nothing to the married couple, unless they are silly enough to belong to a church which doesn't want them.

on the flipside, there's no reason gays can't enter into a civil union
There's no reason heterosexuals can't enter into a civil union, either. Problem is, some hospitals don't recognize the legality of civil unions, denying gay partners the right to make medical decisions for their partners, or even the right to visit!

But, since it is obvious that a marriage is a LEGAL contract, as evidenced by the requirement to obtain a marriage license from a state agency, why don't the churches just invent a new term for whatever it is that they do? There were civil marriages long before the churches stepped in. It's time to take them back from the churches. Let THEM redefine what marriage is, for THEM. And they can call it whatever they wish, and restrict it to whomever they wish. No one will really care.