There is no figure in human history who has changed the world for millions, billions, countless people. If America is in trouble in the next century, it will be because we forgot what he taught us. Both CNN's Larry King and Bush himself missed an opportunity to establish whether Bush's faith is political show business or, as I hope and suspect, genuine and deeply influential. But once a politician opens the subject up, he should be subjected to scrutiny about his beliefs. The bottom line here is that the public deserves to know what guides their presidents.
Religion can be a private reserve if a candidate wants to keep it so.
But if a candidate proclaims faith, he or should explain it. And he opens himself up to judgment. Self-proclaiming Christians have a tough standard to live up to. Morton Kondracke is executive editor of Roll Call, the newspaper of Capitol Hill. Newspaper Enterprise Assn.