Where citizens can choose the good for themselves rather than be regimented into other people’s conception of it. … 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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
Should Health Insurance Pay for Prayer? 
Dec 6th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
And ‘spiritual treatment of the sick’?… Read the rest
Egypt, Islamism and the Niqab
Dec 6th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Women fight for the right to blot themselves out.… Read the rest
Austin Dacey on ‘Sharia-compliant Science’
Dec 5th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The Islamic Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization is somewhat oddly named…… Read the rest
Ben Goldacre on Facilitated Communication
Dec 5th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Almost all scientifically controlled studies showed that the facilitator was the author of the communication.… Read the rest
Suicide’s Parents Say Bishop Should Go
Dec 5th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
When he tried to take up his case with the Limerick diocese, he was met with silence and bullying.… Read the rest
The Catholic Church Never Learns
Dec 5th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
After decades of covering up child abuse, it goes on doing just that.… Read the rest
Taliban Blow Up Mosque in Rawalpindi
Dec 5th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
37 people dead, including 17 children. But isn’t it only ‘the West’ that ‘kills Muslims’?… Read the rest
Cardinal Egan’s Testimony, Unsealed at Last
Dec 4th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
All about defending the church, never about protecting the victims. Surprise!… Read the rest
Top of Pope’s Agenda: ‘Battle Against Secularism’
Dec 4th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Surely there must be room for compromise between human rights and theocratic dogma?… Read the rest
More on Karen Armstrong
Dec 4th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
This is mysticism and metaphysical hand-waving raised to a truly objectionable level.… Read the rest
Baroness Warsi Bullied by Gang of Men
Dec 3rd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Clearly by looking at her, she does not represent Muslims.’ No, she represents her constituents.… Read the rest
Warsi Unimpressed by Egg-throwers
Dec 3rd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The group failed to articulate any arguments, she pointed out. … Read the rest
John Haught on God as Dramatist
Dec 3rd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
God is not a designer, God is a teller of stories full of comedy and tragedy and truly deep significance.… Read the rest
Jerry Coyne on Haught on God as Dramatist
Dec 3rd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
It’s all so convenient.… Read the rest
Taoiseach Painfully Deferential to the Vatican
Dec 3rd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Vatican’s insistence on being treated as a state rather than a church is the key to its claim of sovereign immunity.… Read the rest
God Confirms What People Already Believe
Dec 3rd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
So ‘God’ is a megaphone or a battering ram for existing beliefs, not an insightful moral guide.… Read the rest
Prince Charles is Abusing His Status Again
Dec 2nd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
He is lobbying the Government to protect the future of alternative medicine from new EU rules.… Read the rest
Priest Apologizes for Swearing at Revenue Officials
Dec 2nd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The priest, a convicted tax evader, called them a ruder and more sexist name than the paper admits.… Read the rest
Jesus and Mo Know What God Wants
Dec 2nd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The barmaid knows what Jesus and Mo want.… Read the rest
