Bush's seeming ignorance of this debate -- not exactly an obscure one -- is all the more confounding when you consider that the Texas governor has presided over the executions of one-sixth of all of those killed by the state since the death penalty was reinstituted in 1976. To Christian scholars like Olasky, this isn't even remotely an issue. "The basic principle of capital punishment in murder cases, and whether it's right or wrong" isn't tough, Olasky says. "The Bible quite clearly says it's right."

The clarity of his biblical interpretations aside, Bush is clearly an advocate of increasing the role of church within society, though to what extent is unclear. One of the first policy papers that Bush presented as a candidate was on allowing federal dollars to fund faith-based charities. Many conservatives argue that communities are better served by churches and other religious institutions because they're simply more efficient and more community-based than faceless bureaucracies getting their orders from Washington. Others argue that any federal dollars going to a house of worship constitutes a violation of the separation of church and state.

To many in the secular world, Bush's embrace of his own religion can sometimes sure seem a bit clueless. Despite his own "irresponsible" youth -- not to mention what he and his father talk about when they're not talking about politics -- Bush has been a big proponent of abstinence programs, going so far as to convene a conference in March 1999 where 700 teenagers were instructed in the latest in trendy evangelical theology: born-again virginity, available to even the most randy high school cheerleader, if she agrees to embrace abstinence.

And this year, on April 17, Bush signed a proclamation declaring June 10 to be "Jesus Day" in Texas, in which the public was "challenged ... to follow Christ's example." Well, lots of Texans don't believe in Jesus, or that he was the son of God. Already, Democrats are grabbing passages from Olasky's pending book to damn Bush with Olasky's old-school theology: The most-highlighted sentence mentions that "the wall of separation of church and state ... would stop compassionate conservatism in its tracks if it were part of the Constitution. But it's not."

But ultimately, Bush's religious views may have their biggest impact when it comes to the Supreme Court justices he could pick. With Justices William Rehnquist, 75; Sandra Day O'Connor, 70; and John Paul Stevens, 80; all likely to retire, he could stack the court with religious conservatives like the two he calls his favorites: Antonin Scalia, a devout Roman Catholic, and Clarence Thomas, a Catholic who attends the conservative, charismatic Truro Episcopal Church in Fairfax, Va. (Indeed, whether they come to him or he to them, Bush often finds himself working with religious Christians. As a partner of the Texas Rangers, he pushed for scouts to sign evangelical Christian athletes. And a dozen or so women on his campaign staff, including press aides Mindy Tucker, Megan Moran and Lee Boddy, regularly hold Bible study.)

When the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case Santa Fe Independent School District vs. Doe, where a Mormon family and a Roman Catholic family challenged a public high school district in suburban Houston that allowed students to conduct Christian prayer at football games from the stadium's public-address system, Bush filed a brief on behalf of the high school district that allowed school prayer.

"I happen to believe it is constitutional for voluntary school-led prayer in after-school activities like football," Bush said.

The Supreme Court disagreed. In a 6-3 ruling on June 19, the court ruled against the school district's policy. "The religious liberty protected by the Constitution is abridged when the state affirmatively sponsors the particular religious practice of prayer," wrote Stevens for the majority, which included O'Connor. Thomas and Scalia -- along with Rehnquist -- held the minority position, with which Bush agreed.

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