Religion and politics - in years past we were told those were two subjects that were not good for pleasant conversation. In the church, many of us grew up hearing that religion and politics should be kept strictly apart - "separation of church and state," after all. But in recent years, we have been treated to regular helpings of both from every point on the partisan spectrum. There are regular references to personal faith by candidates on the right and left.

The relationship between religion and politics in our day has an added dimension that in previous generations would never have been a factor - Muslim-Americans, some seven million of them. How does their religion enter into the political arena?

What about this "line between church and state"? Despite all our protests, I wonder wheth…