Internet Congregation Responds in Many Voices

INTERNET CONGREGATION RESPONDS IN MANY VOICES
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Jose Antonio Vargas]
In the church of the Internet, call him the preacher heard all around our YouTubing world, where believers not only watch the videos of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's controversial and racially charged sermons but also edit them, comment on them, pass them around. And make them their own. Wright's homilies -- including the one where he says "God damn America" -- have taken on a new life, opening up a conversation so kaleidoscopic only the vastness of the Internet has room for it. It's about race, Sen. Barack Obama, the presidential campaign, us. One of Wright's sermons was the most viewed video online in recent days, according to Viral Video Chart, a daily catalogue of popular videos on Google Video, MySpace and YouTube. On Sunday, days after Wright's remarks had been replayed on cable shows and dissected in print and online, type "Wright" and "Obama" on YouTube and some 300 videos popped up. Another 500 videos were uploaded the next day. By early Tuesday, hours before Obama delivered his much-anticipated speech in Philadelphia on race, the tally had risen above 900.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/18/AR200803...
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