Adele M. Stan

The leaves are falling, the daylight waning, and the air has that bracing snap to it; ’tis the season of deceptive political advertising. Weeks before congressional elections, this usually this takes the form of negative television ads placed by the supporters of one candidate or another. But, on the Web, at least […]

When I heard of Pope Benedict XVI’s unfortunate comments about Islam, uttered via the voice of an ancient Byzantine emperor, my initial supposition was that the pontiff had simply been a bit ham-fisted, making an ill-advised choice of source material to illustrate a point about the nature of God. Then I actually […]

Not long after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, I sat at a Dupont Circle cafe with a friend who had lost her brother-in-law in the the World Trade Center. I was holding forth on my belief that American ignorance played no small role in creating the conditions for the attacks, when she became […]

The life of Cholene Espinoza appears to crystallize, in a single person, the Zeitgeist of our time; her personal story encompasses a number of issues that burn in today’s headlines: women’s rights, gay rights, the role of the military in the modern world, the role of faith in activism. Now in her early forties, Espinoza, […]

Before I get started here, let me make one thing perfectly clear: I am not, nor have I ever been, a member of the Jewish faith. No members of my family are known to be Jews. Okay, so some of my best friends are Jews, but whattaya want? I’m in the liberal media biz, and […]

It was a modest and, I thought, obvious proposal that I put forward two weeks ago on this page: That liberals give up the notion of creating a cohesive religious left movement that could act as an effective counterforce to the animus of the religious right. Instead, I argued, liberals would do well to claim […]

It was with great joy that religious members of the progressive movement received, late last month, news of the election of Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori to the top leadership position in the U.S. Episcopal Church. For one, the fact of the bishop’s gender heralded an important first for Episcopalians, whose rites and rituals cling closely […]

Each of the Big Three networks, plus Fox’s broadcast network, have rejected a paid advertisement from the United Church of Christ that bears the tagline, “God doesn’t reject people. Neither do we.” Viacom’s gay-targeted cable channel, LOGO, has also rejected the ad, which conveys a message of inclusiveness, even depicting a gay couple. […]

Once again, the major television networks have rejected a United Church of Christ ad that’s all about…inclusiveness. Each of the Big Three networks, plus Fox’s broadcast network, have rejected a paid advertisement from the United Church of Christ that bears the tagline, “God doesn’t reject people. Neither do we.” Viacom’s gay-targeted cable channel, LOGO, has […]

By nominating Harriet Miers for a seat on the Supreme Court, President Bush has not simply named a member of his political staff — and his onetime personal lawyer — for one of the most powerful positions in the nation; he has named a staff member who was likely privy to the most confidential of […]