Are there any? Will “is Hamlet better than Macbeth?” do? How about “why is this flower pretty?” Or “how shall we then live?”… 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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
Where bad science comes from 
Nov 11th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Is it lax editing? Or is it something wrong with peer review, or the Royal Society, or the organization of symposia?… Read the rest
Ireland: male staff rate looks of female staff
Nov 11th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Photographs featuring various young female financial staff were circulated among the men and each woman was judged on her looks and desirability.… Read the rest
New report: child abuse in lesbian households 0%
Nov 11th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
None of the 78 NLLFS adolescents reports having ever been physically or sexually abused by a parent or other caregiver.… Read the rest
“Religious obligations” are the kidnapper’s friend
Nov 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A cop looking for Elizabeth Smart asked her to lift her veil but her kidnapper said no, it was a religious obligation; the cop walked away.… Read the rest
Climate change no problem: god promised
Nov 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
US Representative John Shimkus wants to chair Energy Committee, quotes the bible to show that god won’t destroy the earth.… Read the rest
Atheist pastors and their struggles
Nov 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
One says his initial doubts about God came as he read the work of the so-called New Atheists.… Read the rest
Banaz Mahmod ‘honour’ killing cousins jailed for life
Nov 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Mahmod was seen by her father and uncle to have brought shame on her family after she left her violent husband.… Read the rest
Iran, Saudi Arabia bid for global gender policy role
Nov 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Iran and Saudi Arabia may get seats on the board of a new UN super-agency to promote women’s rights. Yes really.… Read the rest
US atheist groups start ad campaign
Nov 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
One way to end the stigma attached to atheism is to show that there are a lot of us. “It’s the same idea as the out-of-the-closet campaign for gay rights.”… Read the rest
Pakistan: gang rape of child by powerful men
Nov 10th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The perpetrators wanted to take revenge on her brother for his help in arranging a love marriage.… Read the rest
Charles Freeman replies to James Hannam
Nov 9th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Christianity brought the concept of absolute theological truths, many ring-fenced as “articles of faith” which were unchallengeable.… Read the rest
James Hannam replies to Charles Freeman
Nov 9th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The secondary purpose of the book is to deal with the old myth, no longer accepted by historians, that the Church held back science at every turn.… Read the rest
Blackburn, Pinker, Krauss, Harris on morality
Nov 9th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Can science shape human values, and if so, should it?… Read the rest
Ernie Lepore on speech and harm
Nov 9th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Why slurs matter.… Read the rest
Pakistan: woman sentenced to death for blasphemy
Nov 9th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Ali Hasan Dayan of Human Rights Watch: “It’s an obscene law used as a tool of persecution and to settle other scores that are nothing to do with religion.”… Read the rest
Saudi fatwa: women may not work as cashiers
Nov 9th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Official board of clerics said the cashier jobs are not permissible because they would result in the women mixing with unrelated men.… Read the rest
In time for Xmas: a new book for the kiddies
Nov 9th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
About how the evil black Obamaclaus stole Xmas but the nice white people defeated him. Or something.… Read the rest
Oh yay, atheists are doing interfaith whatsits
Nov 8th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
It’s totally great because you get all the advantages of faith and – um – well you get all the advantages of faith.… Read the rest
Gay suicides and the Mormon church
Nov 8th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Utah has the highest rate of suicides among men 15-24 of any state in the US. Coincidence?… Read the rest
