Many of the presidential candidates in this year’s campaign have made religion a topic of discussion, and some ISU professors think the emphasis on what was once a strictly personal issue is affecting the race.

Robert Baum, assistant professor of religious studies, said he teaches a class called Religion and Politics (dual-listed as Political Science 370 and Religious Studies 370), and much of the discussion in the class has centered around which candidate truly is religious.

“Judging from the comments in class, there seems to be a concern about whether people have commitments over issues of religious importance,” Baum said. “There was at least some informal discussion over which candidates were the most people of faith.”

Since each candidates remaining in the GOP race often assert their religious convictions, Baum said, Republicans are dividing their conservative electorate.

“All five of the candidates remaining in the race consider themselves devoted Christians,” he said. “Therefore, I think the fundamentalist Christian vote is divided.”

Thus, many conservative religious leaders, such as Pat Robertson, are supporting Bush, as he seems to be the most likely to be elected to the presidency, Baum said.

“I think what they’re arguing about is the efficacy of politics, not the morality of politics,” he said.

Mary Sawyer, associate professor of religious studies, said she thinks religion might be impacting the votes of many women, as well.

“I was very surprised that the votes of women were divided between Republicans and Democrats, and I’m wondering if that has anything to do with the conservative, evangelical religious influence [in the Republican Party],” she said.

Religion can greatly affect which political party people belong to, Sawyer said.

“Conservative Christians tend to be Republicans,” she said. “That’s particularly true of conservative, white Christians, and I’d say even more particularly true of conservative, white Protestants.”

Sawyer said the number of conservative, white Protestants in America has grown in recent years, which may have an influence on the upcoming presidential race.

Steffen Schmidt, professor of political science, said Republican candidates may have played the religion card in Iowa more than they will in other states.

“In Iowa, all the candidates had to be very conservative on their social issues because the conservative Christians in Iowa are very powerful and really make a difference in who they select,” he said.

The GOP candidates also leaned a little more to the right to appease voters in New Hampshire, Schmidt said, although not as much as in Iowa. He said that trend will probably lessen as race progresses.

“In the next bunch of states, I think religion will be less and less important, especially once they get out in New York state and California,” he said.

Baum said although he thinks honest expression of religion is fine, he is concerned some candidates are merely playing up their beliefs to get votes.

“I worry that people are talking as if they’re religious for political advantage rather than out of personal conviction, and their policies don’t reflect what their faith might lead them to reflect,” he said.

Baum said one example that comes to his mind is the fact that Texas has executed more people than any other state while Bush has been governor, yet earlier in the campaign, Bush cited Jesus as the philosopher who has most impacted his life.

“Some might question whether Jesus is influencing Gov. Bush in his policies on the death penalty,” Baum said. “The question of what would Jesus do in that case is fairly clear, and it’s not what Gov. Bush is doing.”

While some candidates may be receiving backlash for talking about their religions, Democratic candidate former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley has refused to speak about his beliefs at all, Schmidt said.

“He feels that his religious beliefs are his own personal business,” Schmidt said.

Baum said he thinks Bradley doesn’t want to sum up his religion in just a few words.

“My understanding of that is that he feels that his religious beliefs can’t be reduced to a 30-second sound bite, that he doesn’t want to put a label on them,” Baum said. “His religious beliefs are important to him, and he doesn’t want them to be subjected to public scrutiny.”

Baum said many of Bradley’s advisers, including philosopher and theologian Cornell West, are concerned with religiously grounded issues such as helping the needy.

“I can hear it in [Bradley’s] speeches, but it’s subtle,” he said.

Sawyer also said she could detect Bradley’s religious influence, despite his refusal to talk about it.

“[Bradley] represents more of the issues, the values of progressive and liberal Protestants and Catholics, even though he doesn’t himself use religious language,” she said.