Why is so much emphasis put on religion in the 2008 presidential election?

For some reason it just doesn’t bother me that candidate a’s uncle’s father was an atheist. As long as I agree with a candidates policies and I believe him/her to be able to fallow through with them, I don’t care if they worship the devil. What difference does it make if a president is a Jewish or atheist of whatever as long as they’re good at their job?! We manage to have a both a woman and an African-american likely to win the presidential race while no candidate has a chance if they aren’t Christians! Why are people so blind? When will this stop?! Can you tell that this irks me?