A nuanced explanation and advocacy of how to do nuanced explanation and advocacy.… 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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
USA Today’s “Faith and Reason” asks questions 
Oct 6th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“Do you think a baby conceived in test tube is still a child in the eyes of God?” Gee, I don’t know. Maybe they’re all zombies and we should kill them.… Read the rest
Hey, atheists all have something wrong with them
Oct 6th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Agnostic has a think, concludes that “most of the new wave of atheists who offer screeds against faith” are ideologues. Exciting!… Read the rest
The true nature of Steiner education
Oct 6th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The role of the Steiner kindergarten teacher is to facilitate the ‘incarnation’ of the spirits and souls of children into their physical bodies…… Read the rest
Greg Mayer on The Hall of Human Origins
Oct 6th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
At the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Many excellent displays but also lost opportunities.… Read the rest
Philippa Foot 1920-2010
Oct 6th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
TPM republishes an interview with Foot from 2003.… Read the rest
My reply to Caspar Melville on “new atheism”
Oct 6th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
In general it’s a good thing to be sceptical of one’s own commitments as well as other people’s. But…… Read the rest
Another pre-emptive self-censorship
Oct 5th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A cartoon that does not show Mohammed. Some newspapers turned pale and said no no no no we can’t run that.… Read the rest
Sam Harris on the Daily Show
Oct 5th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Harris says moral realism is suspect. Perhaps not suspect but complex, says Stewart. Quite.… Read the rest
Jesus and Mo on the Vatican on condoms and IVF
Oct 5th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The Catholic church is against both because…?… Read the rest
Erich Vieth interviews Paul Kurtz
Oct 5th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“They refused to publish my statement regarding my resignation…I consider this as similar to a Board of Bishops seeking to control its Founder.”… Read the rest
Institute for Ideas throws more crap at secularism
Oct 5th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“Militant secularists call for the Pope to be refused entry to the country on the grounds he offends victims of child abuse, sexism and homophobia.”… Read the rest
Keith Olbermann and Steven Pinker talk evolution
Oct 5th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
What difference does it make to education? If you sow confusion about evolution, you sow confusion about biology.… Read the rest
World Day against the Death Penalty
Oct 4th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The Save Ashtiani campaign invites everyone to endorse a resolution against capital punishment.… Read the rest
Vatican honcho pitches fit about Nobel for Edwards
Oct 4th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
All those abandoned or dead embryos are his fault, said the head of the “Pontifical Academy for Life.”… Read the rest
The Allahabad court ruling is a blow against India’s secularism
Oct 4th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Rather than wresting India from Hindu majoritarianism, the high court’s verdict has given legal imprimatur to it.… Read the rest
The Observer profiles Karen Armstrong
Oct 4th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“But like Kissinger, Armstrong has enemies.” Many devout Catholics, and…Ophelia Benson and Jeremy Stangroom. Ha!… Read the rest
Marilynne Robinson reviews Sam Harris
Oct 4th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“If he were to articulate a positive morality of his own, he might well arrive at its heights to find them occupied by the whole tribe of Unitarians.”… Read the rest
Appiah reviews Sam Harris on morality
Oct 3rd, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
What he ends up endorsing is something very like utilitarianism, a philosophical position that faces a battery of familiar problems.… Read the rest
Raheel Raza at the UN tells off the Pakistani ambassador
Oct 3rd, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
And Tariq Ramadan, for good measure.… Read the rest
