from Minnesota Public Radio.

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Additional support is provided by the John Templeton Foundation

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This is speaking of faith, conversation about belief, meaning, ethics, and ideas.

I'm Krista Tippett.

Today, religion on the campaign trail.

Religious pronouncements seem to have become mandatory

for the Democratic candidates in election 2004.

Yet it's been easy to dismiss the resulting sound bites

that are widely repeated, such as Howard Dean's proclamation

of his favorite book of the New Testament, the Old Testament book of Job.

This hour, we'll take a larger view of what this election has to say

about the role of religion in politics.

Many of us turn to God in our private moments

and also when we go to church or mosque or synagogue,

but we recognize that the beauty of America respects the divisions.

And we've got one party in America, the Republican party,

that if you listen to them, why you think that they had a direct pipeline

to the Lord God Almighty.

But if you look at religion and every religion I've ever been part of,

...