Hey, everybody, let’s pay attention to the positive aspects of religion!… 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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
“Evangelical atheists”
Oct 19th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHey, everybody, let’s bring people together around shared values in spite of religious differences!… Read the rest
Anglican clergy hate women
Oct 18th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia Benson“Many traditionalist clergy are unhappy with the level of protection so far offered to them from serving under a woman bishop.”… Read the rest
Frans de Waal on morals without God
Oct 18th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonFortunately, there has been a resurgence of the Darwinian view that morality grew out of the social instincts.… Read the rest
Yale fraternity pledges chant “No means yes!”
Oct 18th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAnd “Yes means anal!” – while marching past women’s dormitories. Welcome to rape culture.… Read the rest
Sean Wilentz on Glen Beck as “educator”
Oct 17th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe return of the John Birch Society.… Read the rest
Anglican congregation accepts pope’s invitation
Oct 17th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonTo convert to Catholicism to escape ordination of women. God hates women.… Read the rest
Baggini gives atheist “sermon” in Westminster Abbey
Oct 17th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonDivides atheists into good, reasonable atheists and bad, dogmatic, theist-hating atheists. Puts himself in the first group.… Read the rest
Alex Clark reviews Luka and the Fire of Life
Oct 17th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonRushdie includes a trip through the Respectorate of I, where everyone takes offence and visitors are warned to mind their manners.… Read the rest
Benoît Mandelbrot 1924-2010
Oct 17th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonMandelbrot coined the term “fractal” to refer to a new class of mathematical shapes whose uneven contours could mimic the irregularities found in nature.… Read the rest
10 die in Indian temple stampede
Oct 17th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe victims had gathered to witness the traditional sacrifice of goats; 40,000 devotees had thronged the temple at the time of the stampede.… Read the rest
Gender equality in Sweden
Oct 17th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonBoth in education and in the labour market, the genders are not equally represented.… Read the rest
The anger fuelling Serbia’s rioters
Oct 17th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia Benson“The gay parade was a provocation against Serbian people,” explains a member of the nationalist group 1389.… Read the rest
Anthroposophy is not a safe haven from despair
Oct 16th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIt’s a common accusation from anthroposophists that materialism, atheism and even intellectualism cause mental disease and unhappiness.… Read the rest
Waldorf communities
Oct 16th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe very strong community bonds and shared values and ideals risk creating very strong exclusion mechanisms as well.… Read the rest
Science as a ‘faith-laden exigential discourse’
Oct 16th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia Benson…the insight of the wider spectrum of human thought and experience rather than a singular self-establishing discourse which asserts superiority and hegemony…… Read the rest
NY Times: “Atheists debate how pushy to be”
Oct 16th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia Benson“They agreed that people can be good without religion, and religion has too much influence. But they disagreed about how stridently to make those claims.”… Read the rest
Why documentation matters
Oct 16th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe excesses of the bubble years have created a legal morass, in which property rights are ill defined because nobody has proper documentation.… Read the rest
Rift in Canadian Islamic Congress
Oct 16th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonOklahoma: 19-year-old gay man kills himself
Oct 16th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHis family says the suicide followed by just a week his attendance at a Norman City Council meeting where he heard some hostile views.… Read the rest