Read the text of the nationally televised address to Congress on health care that the president delivered on Sept. 9, 2009, which opened a major new front in a tough fight to develop and pass a reform package.

In his Jan. 27, 2010 State of the Union address the president pledged to keep fighting for health care reform, though it remained unclear how he and the Democrats would be able to pass a bill.

View a variety of recent polls about health insurance reform at PollingReport.com.

The Pew Forum published an Oct. 2, 2009, analysis looking at the two main coalitions of religious groups on opposing sides of the issue.

Faith communities in the states bordering the Gulf of Mexico are heavily involved in relief efforts. BP donated $1 million to the Archdiocese of New Orleans for relief programs, as this May 28 Catholic News Service story recounts.

Read a June 1, 2010 Washington Post story, “Gulf Coast residents finding comfort in prayer,” about religious responses to the disaster.

Read a May 27, 2010 article from the Huffington Post about the Buddhist perspective on the oil spill.

Read a May 7, 2010 article from the Huffington Post about the Episcopal perspective on the oil spill.

The Rev. Chuck Freeman, founder of The Free Souls Project and a self-described liberal, has a May 31 column at The Huffington Post religion blog titled “Hearing the Prophetic Call in the Gulf Oil Disaster.”