Barack Obama

Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, have asked President Obama to “do everything within the authority of your office” to free the American missionary team charged with abduction in Haiti.

In a letter dated Feb. 5, the leaders said it is “the consuming passion” of Southern Baptists to share the good news with the world and to “love every person He has created.” This characteristic is especially apparent during times of disaster when Southern Baptists work alongside other humanitarian groups to meet the physical and spiritual needs of people.

Though the leaders admit they do not know all the facts in the case of the detained missionaries, they say it is their understanding that the volunteers were trying to transport 33 Haitian children across the border for humanitarian purposes. more >>

President Obama’s Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships will mark its first anniversary Friday, but it’s hard to determine whether the office has been successful or not.

The office, in an update Wednesday on its blog, looked back on the past year and said it carried out President Obama’s vision to help the federal government partner with faith-based and non-profit groups to better serve Americans.

Specifically, the office said it helped advance the president’s fatherhood agenda, implementing strategies to address the challenge of absent fathers in communities. It has also built partnerships between federal agencies and local nonprofits on key issues, brought together people across religious lines to work for the common good, and helped local organizations respond to the economic crisis, according to Joshua DuBois, the office’s director. more >>

WASHINGTON – President Obama called for civility in the public square and said prayer can help people become more humble, during his address at the National Prayer Breakfast.

“For while prayer can buck us up when we are down, keep us calm in a storm; while prayer can stiffen our spines to surmount an obstacle – and I assure you I’m praying a lot these days – prayer can also do something else,” Obama said Thursday morning. “It can touch our hearts with humility. It can fill us with a spirit of brotherhood. It can remind us that each of us are children of a awesome and loving God.”

Obama’s remarks about the power of prayer came after he called on Washington lawmakers in his speech to overcome division and learn how to “disagree without being disagreeable.” He said no political party has a “monopoly on truth” and that lawmakers need to leave their comfort zones to bridge divisions. more >>

Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Tuesday that the Pentagon has begun the process to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that bars homosexuals from openly serving in the military.

Gates told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that the policy will take over a year to repeal because the Pentagon is looking at various options in order to “get this right and minimize disruption to a force that is actively fighting two wars and working through the stress of almost a decade of combat.”

"The question before us is not whether the military prepares to make this change, but how we best prepare for it," Gates said. "We have received our orders from the commander in chief and we are moving out accordingly." more >>

President Obama spent half of his more than one-hour speech addressing the economy and job creation. But social conservative critics zeroed in on his pledge to repeal the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and his push to pass health care reform that may include abortion coverage.

In his first State of the Union address, Obama set out a plan on how to boost the economy and help hurting middle-class Americans. The president’s proposal included using the $30 billion repaid by Wall Street banks to provide loans to small business owners, creating jobs by investing in infrastructure and clean energy, and slashing tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas to keep jobs in America.

He also called for greater bank regulations to “guard against the same recklessness that nearly brought down our entire economy” and to provide more funding for education reform. more >>