How does a liberal intellectual face up to the dilemmas of liberalism during a war on terror?… 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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
Baggini on Polkinghorne on Science and Religion
Feb 26th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonPolkinghorne and Beale often use God to plug the spaces left by science’s incompleteness.… Read the rest
Philosophy’s Great Experiment
Feb 26th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonX-phi wants to kick down the walls of recent philosophy and place experimentation back at its centre. … Read the rest
Aaronovitch Notes: All Theocracies Are Coercive
Feb 25th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonCrooke’s failure to see that theocracy is unlikely to lead to a world of ‘compassion and justice’ is stunning. … Read the rest
Saudi Underwear Panic
Feb 25th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonNo fitting rooms! Jobs are for men! These are too small! Daily life in a theocracy.… Read the rest
Are Christians Persecuted in the UK?
Feb 25th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIf a teachers tells a child not to tell her friends they are going to hell, is that persecution?… Read the rest
Darwin Was Agnostic and Nontheist and Antitheist
Feb 25th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonRick Weiss and Matt Nisbet are using a misrepresentation of Darwin to make a case against New Atheists.… Read the rest
Carl Zimmer Fact-checks George Will
Feb 25th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe fact-checker doesn’t rely on press releases or blog posts, but calls scientists up to get the best information.… Read the rest
Katha Pollitt on Freedom of Speech, Round 5,425
Feb 24th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWomen can’t point out sexism in the Bible or Koran but clerics can use those texts to declare women inferior?… Read the rest
Andrew Sullivan on Defending Blasphemy
Feb 24th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHari’s article is a classic piece of political polemic, the kind of thing that no free society should ever suppress. … Read the rest
Homeopathy: the Opposite of Science
Feb 24th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonBSc courses in homeopathy are closing. Yessss!… Read the rest
Theocracy and the Death of the Critical Intellect
Feb 24th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonI must exorcise the temptation to choose against the divinely sanctioned authority of the church.… Read the rest
Are ‘Honor’ Killings Simply Domestic Violence?
Feb 24th, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonDenial is rife.… Read the rest
OIC Secretary-General on Durban II
Feb 23rd, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘It should be every individual’s right to criticize practices in breach of human rights.’ Indeed.… Read the rest
‘On the Media’ on Islam and Free Speech
Feb 23rd, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonLeft out some crucial facts, especially the 3 added cartoons, especially the farmer in the pig-mask.… Read the rest
Bubble and Bust in Ireland
Feb 23rd, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonBanking and politics in bed together; how familiar, how deranged.… Read the rest
IHEU on a Bad Week for Free Speech
Feb 23rd, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘It’s time our leaders learned that Islam is just another religion.’… Read the rest
IHEU on Durban II and Freedom of Expression
Feb 23rd, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonDefamation of Religion is a concept that has no place in Human Rights discourse.… Read the rest
Colin Blakemore on Science and Religion
Feb 22nd, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia BensonScience has rampaged over the landscape of divine explanation, as ‘why’ questions became ‘how’ questions.… Read the rest
Clawback of Executive Pay is Gaining Traction
Feb 22nd, 2009 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘When companies fail to perform, should they give millions of dollars to their senior executives?’… Read the rest