It was an extraordinary moment in American politics: a leading candidate for President declaring in a nationally televised address that he believes "that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of mankind."

Flanked by American flags and introduced by former President George Bush at his presidential library in Texas, Republican Mitt Romney last week delivered a 20-minute address called "Faith in America." Responding to ongoing questions about his Mormon faith, the former governor of Massachusetts invoked America's tradition of religious tolerance, defended what he called "the faith of my fathers," and rebuked those who "seek to remove from the public domain any acknowledgement of God."

It was a dramatic moment in a presidential campaign that is increasingly focusing on matters of religion. And it came as polls show an ordained Baptist minister, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, is surging ahead of Romney and the rest of the Republican field in Iowa, which holds its caucus five days before the Jan. 8 New Hampshire primary.

In this election, questions about religion are no longer confined to such social issues as abortion or gay marriage. In televised debates, Democrats have been asked to name their favorite Bible verses (most did so easily), while Republicans have been asked whether they believe "every word" of the Bible (most said they did), and in evolution (three didn't).

David Lamarre-Vincent, executive director of the New Hampshire Council of Churches, contends such questions "trivialize" the faith that many Americans hold dear. "Because those kinds of questions don't help us, don't illuminate for us the lives of the candidates, their convictions, their policy priorities," he explained.

Lamarre-Vincent said he's happy to see religious issues being discussed as part of the campaign; he blames the media for framing the questions badly.

But Dale Kuehne, who is an associate professor of politics at St. Anselm College and the pastor of Emmanuel Covenant Church in Nashua, says such questions can be illustrative. "I want to know what you think and why you think it. I want to know what's in your heart."

"I think if we're going to use religion to exclude people, I would say let's not do that," Kuehne said. "If we're going to use religion to help us understand people more deeply, and we treat each other with dignity and respect, I'm all in favor of that."

But he also said he wishes the press would "go deeper in their questioning" on the issues confronting the nation.

Kuehne said Romney's statements that his presidential decisions would not be influenced by church leaders or doctrine may not reassure some religious leaders. Evangelicals "have become to some degree disillusioned with candidates who promised them things and didn't deliver," he said.

"And if Romney has got a challenge, it's trying to persuade people that when he gets in office he won't change his mind because, fairly or unfairly, he's been characterized as somebody who's changed as it's convenient for him politically."

A recent AP/Pew Research Center poll found that only 18 percent of Republican voters in New Hampshire consider themselves "white evangelical Protestants," compared with 38 percent in Iowa and 53 percent in South Carolina. In New Hampshire, 36 percent of these voters said they were Roman Catholic, compared with 21 percent in Iowa and 8 percent in South Carolina.

►Romney: Do not define my candidacy by my religion (1)

And 17 percent of Republican primary voters in New Hampshire said they had no religious affiliation, compared with 9 percent in Iowa and 6 percent in South Carolina.

That's why some say Romney's speech may not have the same impact among primary voters here as in other regions.

Michele Dillon, a professor of sociology at the University of New Hampshire, said she expects many in New Hampshire will welcome Romney's remarks about the separation of church and state. But the fact that Romney left nonbelievers completely out of his speech may make some here "a little nervous," she said.

"A lot of people in New Hampshire don't kneel down to pray -- or if they do, they don't want to talk about it."

Lamarre-Vincent agreed. "What works in the rest of the country doesn't work in New Hampshire, or in New England really," he said. "We don't wear our faith commitments, no matter how strongly held they are, on our sleeves."

That's what the New Hampshire Humanities Council found when it launched a two-year series of community "conversations" about faith and politics earlier this year, according to Deborah Watrous, executive director. She said religion "is often a more private matter" here than elsewhere.

However, she said, "We're finding that though these are uncomfortable conversations, that people are willing to engage in them, and that they are concerned about the connection between private belief and public policy."

Dillon said asking a candidate to talk about his or her religious faith is appropriate.

"Religion is not just your private beliefs, but it does inform your vision of the world," she said. "Why compartmentalize religion? We expect to know about their families and their hobbies; we know all these other details about them."

In the end, Kuehn said, despite all the rhetoric about it, religion may not be the key factor for voters in this election.

"I may be a pastor and a person of faith, and I may determine, based on the information available to me, that the person best suited to serve as President of the United States is someone that doesn't profess religious faith. I'd rather have somebody who's excellent and not of faith than somebody who's incompetent and of faith."

Although, he added, "I'd love to have the whole package."

Romney got a standing ovation near the end of his speech when he spoke of the First Continental Congress in 1774, and how delegates of different faith traditions joined together in prayer. But the most sustained applause came earlier, after he noted the Constitution prohibits a religious test for office.

"No candidate should become the spokesman for his faith," he said. "For if he becomes President, he will need the prayers of the people of all faiths."

Still, it was Romney's rival, Mike Huckabee, who may have had the most memorable line about faith and politics thus far in the campaign.

During the CNN/YouTube debate, Huckabee was asked about his support of the death penalty in his state, given his Christian faith. "What would Jesus do?" moderator Anderson Cooper asked.

"Jesus was too smart to ever run for public office, Anderson. That's what Jesus would do," Huckabee replied, as the audience erupted in applause.