Divisions over homosexuality that have wracked American religious groups for decades are spilling into voting booths this year.
Denominations are at odds with each other and religious leaders are sparring in the public square. Even their millions of members across Michigan are splitting into camps; a Free Press poll in September shows that this division cuts most deeply between those who regularly attend services and those who don't.
On one side is the Presbytery of Detroit, the state's Episcopal bishops and influential rabbis and other clerics who have lined up against Proposal 2, which would constitutionally ban same-sex marriage in Michigan. On the other side is the combined financial and numerical power of an array of black and white Protestant churches, plus Michigan's seven Catholic dioceses.
In fact, Michigan's Catholic leaders are far more politically active this year than their Catholic colleagues in other states with similar ballot issues. Michigan's bishops have donated $505,000 to the group backing Proposal 2, recently suggested that priests do sermons on the issue and mailed literature to 600,000 Catholic households.
The political battle has forged unlikely partnerships. Bishop Keith Butler, head of the Word of Faith Christian Center in Southfield and a nationally known Republican activist, is working with Rev. Edgar Vann Jr. of Second Ebenezer Baptist Church in Detroit and Bishop Charles Ellis of Greater Grace Temple in Detroit, both prominent pastors traditionally associated with Democratic causes.
Both sides say they represent God and they're mustering powerful religious invocations and answering the question: What would Jesus do?
"Jesus would vote no on 2," said the Rev. Mark Bidwell, pastor of Metropolitan Community Church of Detroit in Ferndale. "Jesus would vote no on discriminating against people."
Leaders of Michigan's seven Catholic dioceses, in a glossy flier mailed to Catholics, beg to differ. They say marriage was "established by God" and "can only be the union of a man and a woman and must remain such in law."
Detroit's Cardinal Adam Maida "considers this a critically important issue and a teachable moment for Catholics and citizens at large," said Rev. Robert McClory, the archdiocese's chancellor.
The archdiocese contributed $270,000 to Citizens for the Protection of Marriage, one of the largest donations to date.
Citizens for the Protection of Marriage, the group that sponsored the petition drive to put Proposal 2 on the ballot, expects to distribute 1 million fliers by week's end at Protestant churches around the state.
Conservative Catholic activist Marlene Elwell, who manages the grassroots campaign, said Catholic leaders didn't believe the group could gather enough signatures to put the measure on the ballot. Maida, she said, signed the petition when a member of her group approached him on a golf course at St. John's Center in Plymouth Township.
Today, Maida is leading the effort to fund the fall campaign, she said. Maida recorded a 7-minute videotape on the issue, which was mailed to parishes earlier this month to show at Sunday masses.
McClory said the archdiocese's donation is investment income set aside to address public policy issues.
Besides the money from the Michigan diocese, the organization got $21,000 in donations from one Catholic parish, Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Hamburg near Brighton.
The Rev. Harry Cook, rector of St. Andrew Episcopal Church in Clawson, was angered by the involvement of the Catholic church and others and organized a response from 175 religious leaders in Michigan.
"It's absolutely despicable for Cardinal Maida and for others in the Catholic hierarchy to be expending so much energy on this. It's irrational," said Cook.
Dana Houle, the spokesman for the Coalition for a Fair Michigan, the group opposing the measure, said the Catholic church bailed out Proposal 2 backers.
"As a Catholic, I'm appalled," said Houle.
Most rabbis in Reform and Conservative Jewish congregations across metro Detroit signed an open letter in the current issue of the Jewish News urging followers to vote against the ballot proposal. The 25 rabbis represent a dozen congregations, including Shaarey Zedek in Southfield, Temple Israel in West Bloomfield and Temple Beth El in Bloomfield Township.
David Gad-Harf, executive director of the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Detroit, said the umbrella organization for Jewish organizations and synagogues opposes Proposal 2.
Detroit's influential black pastors, historically liberal and Democratic voters on social justice issues, want Proposal 2 to pass, reflecting the African-American community's traditional values about marriage. They find themselves in unique agreement with the conservative Republican-oriented Michigan Family Forum and Family Research Council.
In Detroit, the influential Council of Baptist Pastors of Detroit and Vicinity overwhelmingly voted to support Proposal 2.
Among the black pastors supporting the measure are Vann, former president of the Council of Baptist Pastors, Bishop Andrew Merritt, Ellis, Bishop Wayne Jackson and Pastor Marvin Winans.
"The larger population and the press fail to realize how conservative the African-American community is in social and theological thought," said Rev. Jerome Washington of Detroit's Metropolitan Baptist Church.
National polls have shown that more than 60 percent of blacks support a ban on gay marriage.
Those who oppose the proposal say it is difficult to break through the perceptions in the black community or even compete with the pulpit.
Johnny Jenkins, cofounder of Detroit Black Gay Pride, said his group is trying to change the opinions of black voters on the issue.
Jenkins said the black community deals with homosexuality in the same way as the military: "Don't ask, don't tell."
Jasmyne Cannick with the National Black Justice Coalition said there has to be a specific appeal to black voters on Proposal 2, because "when you talk about gay and lesbian issues it's seen as a white issue."
Michigan already has a law banning same-sex marriage, but a Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling striking down a gay marriage ban there spurred legislation and citizen petition drives in many states earlier this year. On Nov. 2, Michigan will be among 11 states voting on same-sex marriage initiatives.
Michigan polls have shown a clear but not overwhelming majority of voters in favor of Proposal 2.
In the other states with similar measures, Catholic leadership generally issued pronouncements against same-sex marriage in diocesan newspapers and parish bulletins.
Even in Ohio, a state demographically similar to Michigan, Catholic dioceses have not contributed financially to a statewide initiative as they have here. And, surprisingly in Utah, Salt Lake City Bishop George Niederauer has taken a position against the amendment. He believes its wording could endanger other rights, said spokeswoman Dee Rowland.