Dawkins, Kroto, Coyne, and Grayling point out that in religion, faith is a virtue, while in science, faith is a vice.… Read the rest
Welcome to our archive of news stories relevant to the project of fighting fashionable nonsense. The stories are drawn from the electronic pages of the world’s media. On this page, you’ll find links to those stories that have been featured on Butterflies and Wheels during the current year. At the bottom of the page, you’ll find links to separate archives of stories from previous years.
We’re always pleased to hear about news stories that you think should be featured on Butterflies and Wheels. Just send an email here, if you want to point one out to us.
A note about links
Inevitably links go out of date. We suggest, therefore, that you make hard-copies of the stories that particularly interest you.
Hitchens on Karzai and Jones 
Apr 6th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The terrible thing about indiscriminate violence and religious hysteria is how much damage a little of it can do.… Read the rest
Pertussis closes Waldorf-based private school
Apr 6th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The local Health Care Director unambiguously stated that lack of vaccinations caused this outbreak and that the children affected were unvaccinated.… Read the rest
Mark Vernon on Templeton and evil gnus
Apr 6th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Dawkins called Rees a quisling. Now Rees has “hit back” by winning the Templeton prize. This is a turning point in the God wars. Wut?… Read the rest
Jerry Coyne on Templeton and its implications
Apr 6th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
When it gives the prize to someone like Dawkins, who doesn’t go to church and is not prepared to say nice things about religion, then…… Read the rest
Jerry Coyne on the Templeton travesty
Apr 6th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Templeton plies its enormous wealth with a single aim: to give credibility to religion by blurring its well-demarcated border with science.… Read the rest
Ian Sample interviews Martin Rees
Apr 6th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“I’ve got no religious beliefs at all. Of course some of the winners have, but I think not all of them.”… Read the rest
Martin Rees wins controversial Templeton Prize
Apr 6th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The astronomer royal has accepted the annual prize from the Templeton Foundation, which critics say makes a virtue of belief without evidence.… Read the rest
Lauryn Oates on where the blame belongs
Apr 5th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Jones should have simply been ignored, or perhaps satirized, for the fundamentalist bigot that he is.… Read the rest
Terry Glavin on the massacre in Mazar-i-Sharif
Apr 5th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
About three years ago, Shia Khomeinists and Sunni Wahhabists teamed up in their efforts at subversion in Mazar.… Read the rest
Paul Rudnick: “I was Gandhi’s boyfriend”
Apr 5th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
And I say, “If someone punched me, I would throw my drink at them. I mean, maybe you should try that with the British.”… Read the rest
UK bus ad campaign to tackle “Islamophobia”
Apr 5th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Association is behind the campaign. Yes really.… Read the rest
Eman al-Obeidy was pressured to change her story
Apr 5th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
She told Anderson Cooper she was placed before state television cameras with several guns pointing at her from just off camera.… Read the rest
Eman al-Obeidi speaks to the media
Apr 5th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
She said that she was pressured to recant the rape claims on Libyan state television. She refused.… Read the rest
High school atheist club
Apr 4th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Or to put it another way, as the Times does, “teenagers speak up for lack of faith.”… Read the rest
Interfaith Alliance declares 1st Amendment null and void
Apr 4th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“We as a nation must do more to make clear that bigoted rhetoric and action against the Muslim faith will not be tolerated.”… Read the rest
PZ on shades of grey
Apr 4th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Don’t even try to pull out a scale and toss a copy of the Koran on one side and the life of a single human being on the other.… Read the rest
Assisted suicide for those not terminally ill
Apr 4th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Nan Maitland was 84 and had agonizing arthritis. Her life consisted of more pain than pleasure, and she was relieved to be able to choose to end it.… Read the rest
BBC wonders what to think about Grayling’s book
Apr 4th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
So it asks Giles Fraser and Mark Vernon.… Read the rest
Decca Aitkenhead talks to Anthony Grayling
Apr 4th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“The charges of militancy and fundamentalism of course come from our opponents, the theists. When the boot was on their foot they burned us at the stake.”… Read the rest
