WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama focused on religious pluralism during the past several days, bookending the annual National Prayer Breakfast Thursday in the nation's capital with a visit to a mosque Wednesday and a column discussing religious freedom in America published Saturday.
In the column, signed by the president and published by Religion News Service, Obama revealed his longing to improve relations between Muslim Americans and their neighbors. He called on the country to "embrace our common humanity" – asking Americans not to target Islam's believers and asking Muslims to publicly condemn extremist ideologies and terrorism.
STATE HOUSE — As a legislative committee heard testimony on the pros and cons of setting a $15 hourly pay floor for Logan Airport workers, its Senate chairman repeatedly described the day as an "awkward" moment for him, as both a supporter of the higher minimum wage and an airline CEO who can't currently afford to pay that wage to all employees.
"Probably on the list of awkward moments at the State House for me, this has to make — not the top of the list, but it gets there," said Sen. Daniel Wolf, co-chair of the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development and the founder of Cape Air.
