Cypher: "Besides the raising of children marriage also includes benefits in old age pensions, visiting rights, taxes and so on. Just to name a few other partly economic aspects without accepting economics to be the reason to marry."

These are the rights I said that states would take away from married couples rather than be forced to give them to homosexual couples. States might abolish civil marriage altogether. There are some countries (such as Israel) where civil marriages do not exist, only ecclesiastical ones.

I am getting new support from an unexpected quarter. President Obama, in saying he does not support the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), said that issued of marriage are traditionally left to the states!