Keep religion separate

Marriage is a religious term, having been defined ages ago through revelation as the union of one man and one woman. That definition has been generally accepted culturally, with notable exceptions, to this day.
Maine’s government recently redefined the term and by so doing, in no uncertain terms, has forced religion on its citizens. The people’s veto is on its way to re-establish the state-sanctioned religion of yore.
We may well ask, on both sides of the issue, what happened to the separation of church and state? Whether one relates to a divine, transcendent being or not, we are all religious — we all live by our beliefs, even if we have no respect for our neighbor’s or our own.
One possible solution to this particular dilemma may be to have state government recognize civil unions between two adult human beings, gay, straight or asexual, and let the religious aspect of those same unions be recognized by the independent faith organization of one’s choice, if it is marriage one wishes to celebrate.
That would keep government out of the religion business, at least on this issue.
Greg Boardman, Auburn