Reply #72: They aren't always the same thing. [View All]

'Marriage' can be a religious institute, also. You cannot force religion to acknowledge homosexuality. It either does or it doesn't. Some 'marriages' have religious as well as civil components. Personally, my own 'marriage', even though we were married in a church (due to parents), is a civil union. Neither my husband nor I believe in traditional religion. (Ok, to make that clear, my husband doesn't believe in anything. I am messing about with Buddhism and I do sometimes think that there has to be something out there bigger than us. But I do not subscribe to the traditional Judeo-Christian...anything.) We stay married because we love each other and because we have made vows to each other. No vow to god involved. Therefore, to some religious people, we are probably not technically 'married'.

I think that is why there is a distinction.