In a ghastly echo of the American presidential campaign, the candidates in the London mayoral election have suddenly been required to declare themselves soldiers of the lord.
At hustings at St Martin-in-the-Fields, organised by the Evangelical Alliance, each of the candidates tried to outdo the other in their admiration for the "faith communities". Besides the big three, there was also Alan Craig of the Christian Choice party, who went for good old "aggressive secularism" as the source of all evil.
Ken Livingstone told of his anxiety to "reach out" to the "faith communities" and involve them more in the delivery of social services and to tap into their ability to tackle gun and knife crime. As we know, Ken is also an enthusiast for Yusuf al-Qaradawi, whom he portrays as a "moderate" spokesperson for Islam, but who others see as a nasty extremist.
Livingstone promised that churches would be able to "get land" after he admitted that the only building that was not rehoused after clearances to make way for the Olympic site was a church.
Brian Paddick, the Liberal Democrat candidate, made the most astonishing admission of the day, when he said that he had been "born again" at the age of 24, when he was a young sergeant. A colleague had converted him to evangelical Christianity. He told his audience: "As far as Christian values are concerned I think if people who do not believe in Jesus Christ borrow Christian values then we should encourage them to do so and I think that there are many things which people give the label 'Christian values' to that are actually shared by other religions as well."
Paddick makes no mention of his Christianity on his campaign website and nor did he when I heard him give a talk to the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association back in 2003. Quite the reverse, in fact.
Boris Johnson, on the other hand, rather foolishly started a biblical quotation that he wasn't able to finish. He has already been challenged on his attitude to Islam. He was at least honest about his lack of adherence, when he said: "I suppose my own faith is a bit like trying to get Virgin Radio when you're driving through the Chilterns; it sort of comes and goes."
Alan Craig, of course, had the whip hand with that particular audience. He did not hesitate to draw attention to the failings in the private lives of the other candidates. As he promised as part of his campaign to "stick the family back together again", he said: "I don't think you can take someone's private life and their private views away from their public life and their public views. It will make it very different for them to talk about the value of marriage and stable families and there is absolutely no doubt that that is a key issue. The breakdown of family is having a key impact, it's ravaging our society. But it is difficult for them, because of their private lives, to talk about it with great authority or commitment."
Look, I know that politicians will promise the world to anyone when they're trying to gather votes, but there is something curiously discomfiting about this particular hustings, when religious people corner politicians and harry them into "confessing" beliefs which they probably don't really hold. It puts me in mind of the many non-believing parents who start going to church to get their kids into "faith schools" - there is something more than hypocritical about it. It verges on the corrupt.
Let us hope that this small-scale recreation of US-style campaigning does not presage an escalation of the "who-is-holiest" contests. As I wrote in another Cif blog - the "faith communities" in this country are not as powerful as some politicians would believe, and candidiates shouldn't allow themselves to be pushed into policies that don't chime with the majority of the population.
For more Cif blogs about the London elections, click here