Marriage counselling - but not as we know it.

Marriage has never seemed to me to be the most important thing about a relationship and I suppose that to some extent I retain my old anarchist disdain for the need to have our cohabitation endorsed by state or church. Of course here in the real world marriage has practical legal benefits involving children, inheritance and property and it makes sense that those benefits should be available to all couples regardless of sexual preferences. The trouble is that a whole tranche of folk including Muslims, Tory Backwoodsmen, Roman Candles, all the usual suspects, don't want to share the sanctity of marriage with a bunch of damned shirtlifters. Hence the "gay marriage" problem. What to do? Well, if the state opted out of the marriage business altogether and offered Civil Partnership to all consenting adults this would leave marriage safely in the hands of the religions to do what they wanted with. Only the Civil Partnership would be recognised in law and this would of course be available to religious couples before or after their purely ceremonial "marriage".  Divesting marriage of any legal validity but making Civil Partnership available to all might go some way toward abolishing the abusive horror of forced marriage and get such worthies as David Cameron and Barack Obama off the hook at the same time. Job done!
....... and while I'm on the subject, can anyone  tell me why it's considered wrong to go through a marriage cermony in order to stay in this country but OK to marry to increase your wealth and social standing?