All Posts Tagged With: "barack-obama"
Why Religion May Not Matter Much in 2008, Part 2
For three days last week, I got my chance to do what I love most: hang out with fellow religion writers and talk/listen/think obsessively about the latest religious news and issues. It was the Religion Newswriters Association annual conference, held this year in D.C. (Melissa Rogers has rounded up the excellent blog coverage by fellow [...]
23Sep2008 | Andrea Useem | 3 comments | Continued
Obama in Lynchburg: The Faith-versus-Works Debate
Here’s a photo I took this weekend while driving through Lynchburg, the central Virginia town where religious right leader Jerry Falwell ministered and built Liberty University. The sign outside this small church reads, as you can see: “USA TELL OBAMA JESUS CHRIST NEEDED FOR SALVATION READ ACTS 4:12.”
Part of the reason this sign caught my [...]
Is Obama’s Real “Faith Asset” His Ability to Speak the Language of American Civil Religion?
Last June, at the Wharton Leadership Conference, Richard Greene, a well-known public speaking coach, offered his prediction that Barack Obama would win the Democratic nomination on the basis of his amazing strengths as an orator. Glossing over the fact that Greene said Romney would win the Republican nomination for the same reason (great speaking skills), [...]
4Jun2008 | Andrea Useem | 3 comments | ContinuedMormon American Idol, Church on Second Life and Barack Obama in Indiana
It’s been a big night, yet another Tuesday evening of clicking back and forth between American Idol and Democratic primary results. So first things first: It looks like America is going to have its first-ever Mormon American Idol in 17-year-old David Archuleta. The three judges, Randy, Paula and Simon, go crazy for Archuleta’s earnest crooning, [...]
6May2008 | Andrea Useem | 7 comments | ContinuedFaith, Hope and Poverty: A Story from Kenya
Life is frustrating, right? I’m not famous, my two-year-old won’t go to sleep at bedtime, and my least favorite contestant might actually win American Idol. Most of these problems are solvable or irrelevant or not really problems in the first place. But here’s one problem that has bothered me since 1996: How do I help [...]
28Apr2008 | Andrea Useem | 1 comment | ContinuedShould Obama Make a Religion Speech?
That was the question this morning at a panel on Islam and U.S. Politics on Capitol Hill.
Have the “accusations” that Obama is a Muslim reached such a pitch that Obama should seize the moment and deliver a historic speech, ala his March 18 address on race? (Background: One-in-ten Americans think Obama is a Muslim.) The [...]
Religion and the Presidential Candidates: Fun Facts
Question: What does the current field of presidential contenders have in common with the Supreme Court bench? Answer: It is disproportionately Catholic.
Using the handily compiled religious biographies of the presidential candidates (which number 16, if undeclared Fred Thompson is included) from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, ReligionWriter discovered these interesting tidbits.
Six out [...]