To be honest with you, I was brought up Catholic and went to church regularly until I was about 15 yrs old.
My wife took my kids to a non denominational church until they were around junior high school age.
The one thing i can say about church and kids is, with the help of a good family structure, they do seem to develop a good moral foundation.
I haven't went to church in so long, I can barely remember it. Now, I'm kind of stuck between a Christian and an Agnostic.
As far as the church and gay marriage goes, I don't think anyone's morals should be infringed on by anyone else, especially the government.
A church's tax exemption status is not a government handout and they're certainly not on the government dole as you claim, that's absurd.
They're no different than hospitals, universities, or any other non-profit organizations that help people. And unlike the federal government, church's do not force it's parishioners to contribute, they do it voluntarily.
In fact, when it comes to US charitable contributions, religious organizations are #1