Despite the separation of church and state in the U.S. religious groups often tend to have fairly delineated stances on political and social issues.

The United Church of Christ, for instance, has taken a collective stance on gay marriage and even filed a lawsuit against the state of North Carolina in April to protect its right to perform marriages for same-sex couples.

Historically black churches tend to be primarily Democrat-affiliated, while a majority of Mormons are Republican-affiliated, according to Pew's Religious Landscape survey. A large majority of those in historically black churches and Muslim congregations believe in a bigger government with more services, while a majority of mainline churches support a smaller government with fewer services.