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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
Francis Collins, evangelicals, and stem cells
Aug 30th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonJane Mayer on libertarian billionaire Koch brothers
Aug 30th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia Benson“Past life regression therapy”
Aug 29th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWoo has become mainstream; booyah.… Read the rest
Fewer men training as priests in Ireland
Aug 29th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia Benson16 men are due to start training for the priesthood this autumn, compared to 39 last year.… Read the rest
Evan Harris on doctors, religion and medical ethics
Aug 29th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonA more appropriate headline would have been “Religious doctors less likely to ask your opinion on treatment option when you’re terminally ill”.… Read the rest
Erfana Bora explains why Dawkins is wrong
Aug 28th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonShe teaches her students science then sends them off to learn the Qu’ranic version; they will then attempt to integrate two worldviews.… Read the rest
“Faith” schools and religion-and-science
Aug 28th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWhat children are taught in science lessons is undermined by what is taught in religion classes, and by the overall emphasis on faith.… Read the rest
Nails removed from tortured Sri Lankan maid
Aug 28th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonDoctors say LP Ariyawathie was deeply traumatized and could not sit down or walk properly.… Read the rest
PZ Myers tells the CHE what he reads
Aug 28th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonA book every day or two, Nature, Science, and other journals, blogs by hard-edged godless science writers who don’t mince words.… Read the rest
Oh no I circumcised my baby!
Aug 27th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonI didn’t want to, I knew better, I think it stinks, but but but blah blah blah so I did it anyway.… Read the rest
Jesus and Mo on something from nothing
Aug 27th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonJesus asked her, what would a godless universe look like?… Read the rest
Image of toaster appears on Virgin Mary painting
Aug 27th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonChurch officials report the toaster appears to be a KitchenAid KMTT200OB which is a medium quality four-slice toaster with a one year warranty.… Read the rest
Journal editor concludes Hauser fabricated data
Aug 27th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe editor of Cognition has seen Harvard’s internal investigation. “The graph is effectively a fiction.”… Read the rest
Irshad Manji on that mosque and Imam Rauf
Aug 26th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWhat will be taught about homosexuals? About agnostics? About atheists? About apostasy? Will Rushdie be lecturing there?… Read the rest
Hitchens on that “mosque” and Imam Rauf
Aug 26th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonI do not find myself reassured by the fact that Imam Rauf publicly endorses the most extreme and repressive version of Muslim theocracy.… Read the rest
Iran limits number of humanities students
Aug 26th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonLast year Khamenei said humanities “promotes skepticism and doubt in religious principles and beliefs.”… Read the rest
Ötzi may have had ceremonial burial
Aug 26th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonResearchers believe his many possessions were funerary items rather than camping gear.… Read the rest
Russell Blackford on confusion about freedom of religion
Aug 26th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonReligious freedom is likely to flourish in an environment where the various rival religions are not given any particular respect.… Read the rest
Susan Jacoby on multiculturalism
Aug 26th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia Benson“I love you” isn’t the first thing that would come to mind if my father told me I had to marry a stranger.… Read the rest
Afghanistan: chemical gas poisons girls’ school
Aug 26th, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia Benson46 girls and their teachers were poisoned at the Tuteya Girls’ Primary School in Kabul.… Read the rest