The difference was stark. Asked at what point human rights should be assigned, John McCain replied with confidence: "At the moment of conception." When pastor Rick Warren put the same question to Barack Obama last month, in a live broadcast from Warren's Californian megachurch, the Democrat presidential hopeful was less concise. "Well, you know, I think that whether you are looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade," Obama said. It is easy to sympathise with Obama. Many scientists and religious leaders say that it is impossible to pinpoint the moment at which a growing embryo should receive human rights. But Obama's meandering reply did not impress white evangelical Christians, many of whom believe that life begins at conception. And if Obama cannot connect with at least the more moderate members of this group, the implications will not be limited to philosophical debates about the beginning of life. A failure on his part to win evangelical votes could have a significant impact on the way that some science is done and taught in the US.
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