A growing share of the American public (49 percent) believe churches and other religious groups should “express their views on day-to-day social and political issues”. This is up from a low of 40% in 2012.

The poll from Pew Research also shows that nearly three-quarters of  Americans think religion is losing influence in American life. Seventy-two percent said that they believed this to be so, up 5 percentage points from 2010 and 20 points from the first poll conducted in 2002.

The poll also found a small decrease in support for same-sex marriage from the last Pew Research poll on the subject in February. Support now stands at 49% in favour and 41% opposed: in February 54% favoured same-sex marriage.

In a press release, the Pew Forum said that “it is too early to know if this modest decline is an anomaly or the beginning of a reversal or leveling off in attitudes toward gay marriage after years of steadily increasing public acceptance.”

The new poll also finds that fully half (50%) of the public now considers homosexual acts a sin, up from 45% a year ago.

When asked the question:

If a business provides wedding services, such as catering or flowers, should it be allowed to refuse those services to same-sex couples for religious reasons, or required to provide those services as it would to all other customers?

Forty-nine percent said that they should be allowed to refuse services, while 47% said they should be required to provide them.

Other findings from the poll include.

• A larger share of the general public sees the Republican Party as friendly toward religion (47%) than sees the Democratic Party that way (29%).
• A declining share of Americans see the Obama administration as friendly toward religion; 30% now say the Obama administration is friendly toward religion, down 7 points since 2009.
• About six-in-ten Americans say it is important for members of Congress to have strong religious beliefs (59%), a figure that has not changed significantly since the most recent midterm campaign in 2010.
• Roughly two-thirds of U.S. adults (65%) think gays and lesbians face a lot of discrimination in the U.S. today, and half or more say the same about Hispanics (50%), blacks (54%) and Muslims (59%). Fewer think that Jews (32%), evangelical Christians (31%), atheists (27%) and Catholics (19%) face a lot of discrimination today.
• About a third of evangelical Christians (34%), including 42% of white evangelical Protestants, and one-in-five Catholics (18%) say it has become more difficult to be a member of their religious group in recent years. Roughly one-in-ten religious “nones” (8%) say it has become harder to be a person with no religion in the U.S. in recent years, while 31% say it has become easier. About half or more in each of these groups say the ease or difficulty of being a member of their group hasn’t changed much either way.