What is the legal purpose of marriage?

Marriage, 'way back when' had to do with the passing on of family wealth. Only legitimate children could inherit. While you were always certain who your mother was, you couldn't be sure who your father was. A man fathering a baby out of wedlock wasn't considered a big deal as that child couldn't receive the family holdings. It was assumed that within marriage the father of the child WAS the father* and so could inherit not only wealth, but in the case of royalty or aristocracy the child could inherit the titles of the father. Basically marriage was and still is considered a legal contract.

Marriage in the 'lower classes' or between slaves had no particular legal safeguards.

In case of divorce property could be assigned. Gay couples over the years often accumulate property in common. A recognized secular marriage between a gay couple means that should there be a breakup a legal judgment could be obtained as in any other divorce.

Other religious rites don't join two people together for life. The legal benefits that you get from marriage are there to protect you as a couple. You get legal rights like seeing each other in the hospital even if it's "family only" and the two of you aren't technically related- how is that even remotely related to have a Bar Mitzvah or a Bacchanalia (which isn't even something people do anymore)??

Having a Bar Mitzvah, or a Bat Mitzvah in my case, is a ceremony that says I have made a choice to be a part of this religion and am seen as an adult in the eyes of my God. Why would I need any legal rights to protect that??? Why would you need to get a tax break, especially since the majority of people having that ceremony are 13 or 14 and obviously not filing taxes in the first place? What the heck do you want, a legal right to see your Rabbi in the hospital even though you aren't related. That makes no sense.

In the earliest of religions, marriage had nothing to do with taxes or money. Marriage was a religious ceremony between a man and a woman that unionized them as one. It was a demonstration showing to God and the public that the couple had made a lifelong commitment to their relationship with the other.

Gay marriage does not fall under the religious definition of marriage. Gays already have domestic partnership which is fine, but seeing that "Marriage" is religiously defined as a unionizing between a man and a woman, trying to change that definition is completely wrong and should be unconstitutional. Take the definition of "friendship". I cannot take a random person off of the streets (or somebody you specifically don't like), force them to hang out with you all the time, and consider you two to be friends. That is not a friendship. Doing so completely changes the definition of the word "friend", just as allowing gays to marry completely changes the definition of the term "marriage".

Besides the tax benefits, it confers rights to your spouse in situations where you are hospitalized, as well as estate rights after you pass away. But these issues can be dealt with through basic estate planning and formation of a power of attorney.

But yeah, the Government really should have no interest at all. From a legal standpoint, it mostly exists for tax benefits, which is all that homosexual couples are seeking. If the Government legalizes gay marriage it doesn't affect any existing marriage. It also wouldn't require a church to perform a marriage ceremony it doesn't want to.

Marriage does make some sense from a tax standpoint, as it allows families to combine income under one filing so the couples are filing separately and being hit with identical and redundant taxes on shared income. But it makes no legal sense to deny these benefits to homosexuals based on their sexual orientation.

Marriage was conceived as an institution to protect women. Specifically daughters. Women for most of history have been oppressed and I presume I need to explain all of that.

because marriage tends to produce kids, and kids are an important part of a nations' future and stability (gotta have the next generation), the state likes it when people are married. There are other benefits too, married folks tend to be more financially successful, less inclined toward crime, etc. So the state likes to encourage it.

Mostly to establish a legal binding contract in terms of ownership and obligations.