Protects medical workers who refuse to participate in care they find ‘morally or religiously objectionable.’… 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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
Michelle Goldberg on Rick Warren
Dec 19th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHe compares legal abortion to the Holocaust and gay marriage to incest and paedophilia.… Read the rest
Islington Council Wins Appeal
Dec 19th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonLillian Ladele’s solicitor reacts with a torrent of gibberish.… Read the rest
UN Again Votes to Ban ‘Defamation’ of Religion
Dec 19th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘Islamic states say such resolutions do not aim to limit free speech but to stop publications like the Motoons.’… Read the rest
Vatican Sets Us All Straight on Human Rights
Dec 19th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHuman rights mean: right to life, respect for the family, marriage as the union between a man and a woman.… Read the rest
UN Urges States to Decriminalize Homosexuality
Dec 19th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonProposal has ‘provoked the ire’ of the Vatican and some majority-Muslim countries.… Read the rest
Obama Defends Rick Warren Invitation
Dec 19th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWhy, of all the pastors in the US, choose one who campaigned for Prop 8 and compares abortion to the Holocaust?… Read the rest
Women’s Rights Activist Killed in Kirkuk
Dec 19th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIraqi police say attackers decapitated the leader of the women’s league of the Kurdish Communist Party.… Read the rest
Anti-gay Evangelical Chosen for ‘Invocation’
Dec 18th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonChoice of Rick Warren is seen as a signal to religious conservatives that Obama will listen to their views.… Read the rest
Rick Warren is a Culture War Wolf
Dec 18th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonObama had thousands of clergy to choose from, and the choice of Warren is a bow to the religious right.… Read the rest
South Korean Actress Sentenced for Adultery
Dec 18th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonJudges always rule that adultery is damaging to social order, and therefore must remain a crime. … Read the rest
The Epistemology of the DSM-V
Dec 18th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘In psychiatry no one knows the causes of anything, so classification can be driven by all sorts of factors.’… Read the rest
Earnings Were a Mirage But Bonuses Remain
Dec 18th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonBanks plan to pay bonuses despite needing billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money to survive.… Read the rest
Free Speech Rapporteurs on ‘Defamation’
Dec 17th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonRestrictions on freedom of expression should never be used to protect institutions, abstract notions, or beliefs.… Read the rest
Cheney Says Waterboarding is Okay
Dec 17th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonABC asked him if in hindsight he thought the tactics went too far. ‘I don’t,’ Cheney said cheerfully.… Read the rest
The Cost of Mbeki’s ‘Beliefs’ About HIV
Dec 17th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHad South Africa’s government provided the appropriate drugs, it would have prevented 365,000 premature deaths.… Read the rest
Jesus, Mo and Barmaid on Science and Theology
Dec 17th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonScience is limited by its refusal to make stuff up.… Read the rest
HRW on the Kiwanja Massacre
Dec 17th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonSurvivors could only run to the UN base half a mile away and cluster outside the fence for protection.… Read the rest
HRW Urges Action on Reforms for Migrant Women
Dec 17th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonGovernments in the Middle East should act quickly to fulfill promises to protect migrant women’s rights.… Read the rest
Muslim Think Tank Finds Sharia Unfair to Women
Dec 16th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘I told them I had been forced and this was not Islamic, but they disagreed.’… Read the rest