August 6, 2008

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Obama Muslim Coordinator Resigns
Perry Bacon/Washington Post (08/06/2008)
Barack Obama's national Muslim outreach coordinator has resigned amid a controversy of over his connections to a man who the Justice Department named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the racketeering trial last year of several alleged Hamas fund-raisers. Mazen Asbahi, a Chicago lawyer who had been appointed to help Obama reach out to Muslims, stepped down on Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported late last night.

DOCTRINE AND PRACTICE
Muslim census a difficult count
Cathy Lynn Grossman/USA Today (08/06/2008)
A new census of Muslim congregations is reviving controversies over how many Muslims are in the USA, how they are counted and why it matters. For minority religious groups, particularly Muslims and Jews, higher numbers can mean enhanced social and political clout in the U.S. public square.

COURTS
Christian biker gang members face attempted murder charges
Tony Barboza/Los Angeles Times (08/06/2008)
Police say the charges against six Set Free Soldiers stem from a fight last week with members of the Hells Angels at a Newport Beach bar. Three Hells Angels are charged with assault.

ARTS AND MEDIA
Healing After Tragedy: Chapman Copes With Loss of Daughter
Janice Johnston and Emily Yachus/ABC News (08/06/2008)
Grammy-winning Christian music star Steven Curtis Chapman and his family suffered a profound loss on May 21 when his 5-year-old daughter Maria Sue was accidentally hit by his 17-year-old son, after she ran into the path of his SUV in their driveway. Maria later died at a Nashville hospital.