While the religious factor typically tends to work in a candidate's favor, in the case of Barack Obama, it may now be working against him. Not only has he had to deflect allegations that he is actually a Muslim, and not the Christian he claims to be, but now a series of questionable statements and sermons by Obama's pastor that have come to light have cast a new series of doubts on the Democratic presidential candidate and his own beliefs.

Reverend Jeremiah Wright of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ, the church which Barack Obama and his family attend, has not only brought up the race issue, which has been carefully skirted around on all sides, but has also made some decidedly anti-American statements. Rev. Wright accuses rival Hillary Clinton of having an easier time because she is white, and in a sermon suggested that the U.S. had brought the 9/11 attacks upon itself.

"Hillary was not a black boy raised in a single parent home. Barack was," Wright says in a video of the sermon posted on YouTube. "Barack knows what it means to be a black man living in a country and a culture that is controlled by rich white people. Hillary! Hillary ain't never been called a 'nigger!' Hillary has never had her people defined as a non-person," said Wright in a December sermon.

Another sermon from just after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S. has also been scrutinized:

"We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye," he said. "We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant. Because the stuff we have done overseas has now brought right back into our own front yards. America's chickens are coming home to roost."

Obama, however, contends that he did not personally hear these statements, and doesn't support most of Rev. Wright's anti-American views. That is, at least, the excuse Obama gave to his supporters on Friday. But one can't help but question the candidate who has had a near twenty-year relationship with his spiritual mentor, and claims not to have known of these sentiments and teachings.

Obama has acknowledged that he had been disturbed by the minister's comments before, and previously condemned remarks made by Wright. But, "because 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." But is that really any kind of an excuse to stand by someone who supposedly represents one's church, and one's beliefs?

Obama began distancing himself from the minister last year, as it became apparent that Wright may be a hindrance to his campaign. Early last year, Obama withdrew an invitation to the minister to deliver a public invocation at the senator's official announcement of his candidacy for president. However, it may have been too little too late, as earlier this week video footage of those controversial sermons at the Trinity United Church of Christ made their way online, reigniting the fervor surrounding Rev. Wright's comments.

Compounded with other negative news, such as the Tony Rezko trial and his relationship with Obama, amongst other things, the Obama campaign now has reason to be seriously worried about their White House prospects. Not only do Rev. Wright's statements concern many Democrats, but the conservatives are even more worked up.

Were it to come down to a race between Obama and John McCain on the GOP side, the Republicans would undoubtedly have a field day with the Wright scandal. Sure, McCain has his own religious problem with the endorsement of John Hagee, who has made some idiotic anti-Catholic statements of his own, but he at least did not share as close of a personal relationship with him or attend his church. Obama cannot say the same with regards to Wright.