Why not go for civil unions first?

I'm a and i would love to marry my girl...BUT i don't want "god" involved in my finances...cuz thats pretty much what marriage is to me. Just papers and equal rights. In fact...i agree that marriage should be between a man and a woman and GOD. By the way...didn't the pilgrims adopt marriage from the dutch custom of civil unions? Maybe I have my facts wrong...Anyway...my question is you can keep your marriages...can we all agree to disagree and all have the ability to have a civil union? shouldn't we be pushing equal rights in baby steps anyway? p.s. I'm going to ask christians the same thing so don't think I'm picking on us s.:)