March 20, 2008

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Obama: Wright flap has 'shaken me up'
Alexander Mooney/CNN (03/20/2008)
Sen. Barack Obama told CNN on Wednesday the recent uproar over his former pastor's sermons has reminded him of the odds he faces in winning the White House.

Views of Obama's pastor reflect black U.S. tradition
Matthew Bigg/Reuters (03/20/2008)
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina - Many U.S. voters have been shocked by the sentiments expressed by the pastor of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama but they should not be surprised, say faith leaders with experience of black American churches.

The Origin of Obama's Pastor Problem
James Carney and Amy Sullivan/Time (03/20/2008)
Long before the sermons of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright became instant hits on YouTube and talk-show fodder for the cable news channels, Barack Obama knew he had a preacher problem. On the eve of launching his campaign for the White House in February 2007, Obama abruptly withdrew an invitation to Wright to deliver the invocation at his announcement speech in Springfield, Ill.

Groups Respond to Obama’s Call for National Discussion About Race
Larry Rohter and Michael Luo/New York Times (03/20/2008)
The speech Senator Barack Obama delivered Tuesday morning has been viewed more than 1.6 million times on YouTube and is being widely e-mailed. While commentators and politicians debated its political success Wednesday, some around the country were responding to Mr. Obama’s call for a national conversation about race.

ISLAM
Bin Laden: Pope Leading Anti-Islam Crusade
Associated Press (03/20/2008: cbsnews.com)
Osama bin Laden accused Pope Benedict XVI of helping in a "new Crusade" against Islam and warned of a "severe" reaction to European publications of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that insulted many Muslims.

DOCTRINE AND PRACTICE
Has the 'notion of sin' been lost?
Cathy Lynn Grossman/USA Today (03/20/2008)
Is sin dead? No, not by a long shot. Yet as Easter approaches, some pastors and theologians worry: How can Christians celebrate Jesus' atonement for their sins and the promise of eternal life in his resurrection if they don't recognize themselves as sinners?

MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
Good marriage equals good blood pressure
Associated Press (03/20/2008: msnbc.msn.com)
NEW YORK - A happy marriage is good for your blood pressure, but a stressed one can be worse than being single, a preliminary study suggests. That second finding is a surprise because prior studies have shown that married people tend to be healthier than singles, said researcher Julianne Holt-Lunstad.