The most notable result of the new Public Religion Research Institute survey
of attitudes toward Proposition 8 is the divide between Latino
Catholics and Latino Protestants. The former are more in favor of
same-sex marriage than any other ethno-religious group in the survey;
the former are more opposed. (That’s Catholics 57-38 in favor versus
Protestants 73-22 opposed.) The correlation that’s caught most attention
is the disproportionately high number of Latino Catholics (41 percent)
who think of God as an impersonal force. Although we’re unfortunately
not given a number for Latino Protestants, we are meant to assume that
most of them regard God “as a person with whom one can have a
relationship.”

I can’t dispute the Catholic number, but it makes no sense to me as an
explanation. Latino Catholicism is, by all accounts, rich in personal
connection–to the Virgin Mary and other saints, for example. I’d
suggest that for Latino Protestants–as for evangelicals
generally–same-sex marriage is a major issue, in effect a defining
element of their faith. For Latino Catholics, it’s not.