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It’s easy to get confused about what is at stake in coverage of Republican governor candidate James “Duke” Aiona and religion.

A lot of topics get tumbled around — Transformation Hawaii, International Transformation Network, evangelical conventions in Argentina.

It’s been a strange political season when it comes to religion. The latest development came last week when Aiona made his religious activity an issue by holding a press conference to denounce “despicable attacks twisting faith and Transformation Hawai’i.”

After publishing an article” exploring his claims that all his involvement with the group was in a “personal capacity,” and concluding that wasn’t entirely the case, we received a thoughtful and informative response from Ed Silvoso, president of the International Transformation Network. He clarified much about his evangelical organization and the lieutenant governor’s involvement in it.

We appreciate this kind of dialogue. It’s just the kind of journalism we hoped to do at Civil Beat and were pleased to be able to share Mr. Silvoso’s article.

We know now that Aiona is not a member of Transformation Hawaii. We’ve seen no solid evidence that the organization supported anti-homosexual activities in Uganda. And it’s clear that Aiona would not tolerate or endorse such policies.

That’s good for us and everyone to know.

But lost in the search to verify the details of his story is a larger issue. The issue is not the candidate’s private religious life. That is between him and his God. The issue is the principle of separation of church and state and what Aiona’s actions and statements tell us about how he believes the principle should be applied.

In a promotional DVD about Transformation Hawaii — titled “Transformation In The Marketplace With Ed Silvoso” — Aiona is shown telling a crowd at the University of Hawaii, “And we declare that our school will become God’s school and that our Hawaii will become God’s Hawaii. Lord Jesus Christ, as it is in heaven, see also in Hawaii, let your kingdom come and let your will be done. Amen.”

Unlike some of the videos that present Aiona’s involvement in the evangelical organization, this clip was edited by a group friendly to Aiona. It was included in a Transformation Hawaii video.

The clip is troubling because the university is not God’s school. It’s the school of the people of Hawaii. To mix the two is problematic.

Then in a KITV debate Friday night, he was asked about prayer services in his office.

“Will you continue to hold these prayer services if you are elected?” he was asked.

“I will give anybody who wants to have that opportunity to pray an opportunity to pray,” he replied.

“In your office?” Denby Fawcett responded.

“Wherever they want to pray. It’s a public — it’s a public office, they’ll have that opportunity, if they want it.”

If Aiona is serious, he’s talking about making the governor’s office a public forum. Just like with a classroom, once he makes it available for one religious group, he has to make it available for all, without consideration of the content of the religious activity.

Not only that, but the idea of a governor holding prayer sessions in his office raises tough questions. Of course there’s no intention on his part to make people feel uncomfortable or excluded. But he’s the boss, and if an employee doesn’t participate, could he or she feel that it could affect his opportunities? And how about non-Christians?

Wouldn’t it be more appropriate for any governor to worship in private or somewhere outside his government offices? That does not mean he has to leave his faith at the door when he comes to work. Of course it may guide him in his decisions and his relations with others. But it’s another thing if he invokes it, as Aiona has, to transform a Hawaii public institution into God’s institution or to create forums where some may feel excluded or coerced to participate.