how would you guys feel about eliminating all the economic benefits of marriage?
I personally think this is an interesting idea, though in one, specific form. I do think there should be legal/economic benefits for committed groups of people who have formed a "family" unit of some kind. At the same time, though, I don't think that unit should be restricted to marriage relationships. There have been many times throughout history, and there still are, where people form family units for mutual benefit and survival that are outside the boundaries of a sexual/romantic relationship- different immigrant family structures, close friends who are part of a marginalized group deciding to live together, etc. I think the ideal situation would be to get rid of marriage as a legal institution, let the religious clowns keep it as a legally-useless private thing where their institutions can choose who to marry, and keep civil unions, but extend the benefits of civil unions beyond sexually-tied couples to various other family structures.