Does religion belong on campaign trail?

• Position: Your Life - Brief article

A major debate in the 2008 presidential race has focused on religion and its role in the life of the candidates. In recent years, this has served the Republican candidates well, as they have embraced religious values openly and made it a part of their stump speeches. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican candidate, shies away from this open discussion, while Senators Hillary Clinton (D.-N.Y.) and Barack Obama (D.-III.) embrace their religions and discuss them openly on the campaign trail.

Should religion even be discussed at all in the race for the presidency? Prof. Willard Randall, Distinguished Scholar in History at Champlain College, Burlington, Vt., emphatically says no.

"No presidential election since 1800 has taken place without an attempt to damage at least one candidate's reputation by innuendo, rumor...