With the hullabaloo about gay marriage today, I was thinking about what marriage really means. I think you need to divide secular (civil) marriage and Christian marriage. The problem most people seem to have is that they can't separate the two. Perhaps because they don't see any difference because religious institutions have taken on most the responsibility associated with marriage or maybe because they fail to understand how Christian marriage is different in that it is sacramental. Can pagans get married? Can atheists get married? So why not gays? What does a civil marriage have to do with the Church? Unfortunately, we have reduced our own sacramental view of Orthodox marriage by moving the ceremony to Saturday, and "divorcing" the crowning from the Eucharist. If these were put back together, I think it would be more clear to people not only why a gay marriage could never be a Christian marriage, but also why inter-marriage can never be a Christian marriage. The sacrament of marriage is sealed by the Eucharist. Unlike the RCC we see this seal as eternal. This is most apparent in the canons dealing with widows and widowers - even when death is involved, the Church does not encourage remarriage - it is still a second marriage, which in theory is adultery and thus requires penance. Now does this have to do with gay marriage? Simply that it could never be a Christian marriage in the sacramental sense. It could never be a prefiguration of Christ and the Church, Bride-groom and bride. So do we really care what the civil authorities call marriage?