October 12, 2008 4:07:59 PM CDT
(Newser) – As a young man, Barack Obama experienced a lonely, drawn-out crisis of faith—and now finds himself churchless as the whole world watches, Newsweek reports. His father was an atheist Muslim, his mother a Christian who turned secular, and Obama eventually embraced Chicago's Trinity United after years of church-based activism. His conversion wasn't "a bolt of lightning," he said. "It was more a gradual process."
But now that he and Rev. Jeremiah Wright are at odds, Obama has no church—at a time when 12% of voters believe he is Muslim and conservatives are blasting his "confused theology." But Obama says he mixes Christianity with the Golden Rule, believing that other religions are also true. "My particular set of beliefs," Obama admits, "may not be perfectly consistent with the beliefs of other Christians."
Source Newsweek
Aug 15, 08 4:36 PM CDT The presidential candidates will put their spiritual views on display tomorrow night, appearing with Rick Warren, the country's most popular pastor, at his megachurch in California. The back-to-back 1-hour interviews are clear signs of both the importance of religion in the campaign and the emergence of a new type of evangelical preacher, the Christian Science Monitor reports. More »
Jun 5, 08 2:39 AM CDT Barack Obama's former Chicago church is in turmoil over a battle to retain power by firebrand preacher Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Time reports. A rift has opened between Wright, who was supposed to retire from the church he nurtured for 36 years, and his hand-picked successor, whose qualifications he's now questioning. More »
May 4, 08 4:21 PM CDT Barack Obama's controversial pastor Jeremiah Wright was making passes at a parishioner's wife when he was supposed to be giving the couple marriage counseling, the New York Post reports. "People were telling me that my extremely attractive wife was seen with the pastor," said Delmer Reed, who says he sought help at Trinity. "But I thought, 'So what?'" More »
May 1, 08 1:11 PM CDT Jeremiah Wright is set to retire to a $1 million mansion paid for by Trinity United Church of Christ. The 10,400-square-footer is in a tony Chicago suburb, and comes with butler’s pantry, elevator, and whirlpool, the New York Post reports. The church is listed as owner; an unexplained $10 million line of credit is attached to the property. More »
Apr 30, 08 10:40 AM CDT Barack Obama has spent his entire career trying not to be an Angry Black Man, but yesterday Jeremiah Wright forced him to tap his rage, Maureen Dowd writes in the New York Times. Wright, seemingly among the angriest of black men, had created a full-blown crisis for Obama, forcing the Democrat to commit “a painful form of political patricide.” More »
Barack Obama • Obama 2008 • religion • Jeremiah Wright • Christianity • Trinity United Church of Christ • spirituality
