Sen. Obama Explains His Relationship to His Pastor

This afternoon Sen. Obama submitted an article on the The Huffington
Post explaining his relationship to his pastor and church. Hopefully, this
ends the issue. Here's an excerpt:

Most importantly, Rev. Wright preached the gospel of Jesus, a
gospel on which I base my life. In other words, he has never been
my political advisor; he's been my pastor. And the sermons I heard
him preach always related to our obligation to love God and one
another, to work on behalf of the poor, and to seek justice at every
turn.

The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this
controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach
while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private
conversation. When these statements first came to my attention,
it was at the beginning of my presidential campaign. I made it clear
at the time that I strongly condemned his comments. But because
Rev. Wright was on the verge of retirement, and because of my strong
links to the Trinity faith community, where I married my wife and
where my daughters were baptized, I did not think it appropriate to
leave the church.