The battle against gay marriage rages on in Michigan.
Stacy Swimp, Founder of the Michigan based Revive Alive Missional Ministry and a spokesperson for a coalition of over 200 Black Michigan Pastors recently declared that the fight to legalize gay marriage in the state is a "project of the enemies of God".
"The press, throughout the annals of modern history, has been used by the enemies of God to change culture and by using cultural change or influencing cultural change, the enemies of God have been able to create a moral collapse in our society and in our political realm," he stated on The Janet Mefferd Show.
Swimp, among many other pastors in Michigan, has previously rejected the LGBT comparison of "marriage equality" to Black American's plight for civil rights.
"To state that marriage redefinition is in any way similar to the civil rights movement is intellectually empty, dishonest and manufactured," he stated.
"When has anyone from the LGBT demographic ever been publicly lynched, specifically excluded from moving into neighborhoods, prohibited from sitting on a jury and denied the right to sue others because of their sexual preferences?"
Swimp also led the coalition of pastors in filing an amicus brief in support of Michigan's Marriage Protection Amendment following Judge Bernard Friedman's overruling of the 2004 voter-approved amendment to the Michigan Constitution that defines marriage as between one man and one woman.
"If in fact, most Americans have ever been in favor of marriage redefinition, then why is that ravaged, activist judges of the Appeals Courts of various districts have had to overturn the ballot results- the will of the people- if, in fact, the people themselves were in support of this?" he asked.
Swimp continued, "Most Americans still embrace our Christian-Judeo values and the only reason we have 17 or 18 marriage redefinition states- or however many we now have- is because activist judges have vacated the will of the people."
A new poll released earlier this week reflects Swimp's sentiments, revealing a significant drop in support for same-sex marriage in the state, finding that if a vote on allowing same-sex marriage were held today, 47% would vote yes and 46% would vote no. The remaining 7% were either undecided or refused to say.
Those numbers are a significant change from last year, when 51% of Michiganders said they supported gay marriage and 41% said they were opposed. Both polls sampled 600 likely voters and had margins of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
David Maluchnik, a spokesman for the Michigan Catholic Conference, which has filed a brief arguing Friedman's ruling should be reversed, says the polls show the general public's views on same-sex marriage.
"There is still strong support for traditional marriage in Michigan," he said.
Guyton Adams, 84, of Southfield, a retired U.S. Postal Service finance clerk who also participated in the survey, agreed, saying marriage should be defined by Biblical standards.
"The Bible says a man and a woman," Adams said. "If you're going to change it to a man and a man, or a woman and a woman, that's something else."
