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Like many Americans, Reagan has a religious sense that lacks much formal institutional grounding, but nonetheless seems earnest and powerful. Mondale, the pious and principled son of a Methodist pastor, has a temperamental aversion to wearing his faith on his sleeve—but he apparently feels his faith deeply and knows what he believes. What is at issue, or should be, is neither the sincerity nor the righteousness of the two men's beliefs. Rather, the point is their basic difference in outlook, reflected within the electorate, over the proper role of religion in the political realm. If conducted on that level, the debate need not be ugly, and might even be edifying. "Everybody seems to agree that one cannot ultimately separate religion from politics," says Harvard Divinity School Professor Harvey Cox. "The question is how they are to be related in such a way that civility and respect for minorities are guaranteed and nurtured. I am confident that our society has a large capacity for this kind of discourse."
—By Kurt Andersen. Reported by Hays Gorey/Washington and Christopher Ogden/Dallas, with other bureaus