Among nearly every religious group, Barack Obama received equal or higher levels of support compared with the 2004 Democratic nominee, John Kerry. Still, a sizeable gap persists between Obama’s support among white evangelical Protestants and his support among the religiously unaffiliated. Similarly, a sizeable gap exists between those who attend religious services regularly and those who attend less often.

Does the law empower a congregation to tear down its church even if the government has declared the structure a historic landmark? Church-state scholar Robert W. Tuttle explores the legal issues in a lawsuit involving a Christian Science church and Washington, D.C.'s municipal government.

Some Americans are having a change of heart about mixing religion and politics. A recent survey finds a narrow majority of the public saying that churches and other houses of worship should keep out of political matters and not express their views on day-to-day social and political matters.

On Wednesday, Nov. 12, same-sex couples exchanged marriage vows for the first time in Connecticut while protests continued in California over the passage of Proposition 8, a Nov. 4 ballot measure that banned gay marriage in the state. A Pew Forum graphic shows that in the five years since Massachusetts became the first state to allow gay marriage, more than half the nation's states have amended their constitutions to ban the practice.

A statement approved by U.S. Roman Catholic bishops warned President-elect Barack Obama that "aggressively pro-abortion policies, legislation and executive orders will permanently alienate tens of millions of Americans, and would be seen by many as an attack on the free exercise of their religion." For more information on the abortion debate in America, including an overview of public opinion on the issue, religious groups' views on abortion and more, go to the Pew Forum's abortion resource page.

Incorporating surveys by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, the Pew Forum's tracking charts show how Barack Obama and John McCain fared among key religious groups during the campaign.

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Graphic: How Church Attendance Affects Religious Voting Patterns