Obama gave a speech this week on Democrats' struggles with religion and politics that seems to be getting a lot of buzz in the blogosphere.  Text 
here.
It's astonishing to me the degree to which Dems are openly grappling with this issue (as compared to anything pre-Clinton, say).  FWIW, I agree with much of what Obama says here, though I don't know how well this worldview will be accepted in the Democratic Party.
Gattigap