Accusation that a teacher ‘blasphemed’ Islam set off the torching of two churches, a health clinic, 67 homes.… 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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
Another Blasphemy Bust in Indonesia 
Dec 16th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Indonesian police booked cult leader Lia Aminuddin for ‘insulting’ Islam.… Read the rest
Nirmukta Offers a Plea for Rationality
Dec 16th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The one thing we can all agree on: we cannot give up our secularism and limited freedoms in fear or in anger.… Read the rest
Kenan Malik on Internalising the Fatwa
Dec 16th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The avoidance of ‘cultural pain’ is seen as more important than an ‘abstract’ right to freedom of expression. … Read the rest
‘Proof That Faith and Science Can Co-exist’
Dec 15th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Of course they can co-exist; that doesn’t mean they both make sense.… Read the rest
Religion and Science: Not a Clean-cut Division
Dec 15th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
EPA administrator has BA from bible college, is beholden to a corporate lobbyist. Amen.… Read the rest
The Professionalization of Literature
Dec 15th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Instead of reading literature, now we study ‘texts.’ We’ve developed a discipline, with its jargon and its methodology.… Read the rest
Cholera Raging in Zimbabwe
Dec 15th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Zimbabwe’s most fundamental public services are shutting down, like the organs of a cholera victim. … Read the rest
Maryam Namazie on Launch of One Law For All
Dec 15th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Among the signers: Ahadi, Hirsi Ali, Arjomand, Blackmore, Brown, CFI – and rest of alphabet.… Read the rest
Amish Refuse to Obey Laws
Dec 14th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Attorneys argue they have a constitutional right to ‘religious freedom,’ law or no law.… Read the rest
Launch of ‘One Law for All’ Campaign
Dec 14th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Sharia law is discriminatory, unfair and unjust, particularly against women and children.’… Read the rest
Report on ‘One Law for All’ Launch
Dec 14th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Such self-appointed, unregulated tribunals hold themselves up as courts with as much force as the law of the land.… Read the rest
Blair Thinks Catholicism Makes No Difference
Dec 14th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘I don’t, to be honest, think it makes any difference to people at all, politically.’ Think again.… Read the rest
RSPCA Grovels to ‘Hindu Community’
Dec 14th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Agreed to apologise for ‘upsetting the Hindu community’ by ending torture of a cow.… Read the rest
Bangladesh: Dr Humayra Abedin is Free
Dec 14th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The High Court in Dhaka ruled she had to be freed; she was handed over to the British High Commission.… Read the rest
Humayra Abedin Freed by Bangladesh Court
Dec 14th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Yesterday, Judge Syed Mahmod Hossain ordered Dr Abedin’s parents to return her passport.… Read the rest
Vatican Issues ‘Instruction’ on Bioethics
Dec 13th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Vatican’s most ‘authoritative’ document in 20 years, reinforcing the church’s mindless opposition to everything.… Read the rest
Vatican Inadvertently Endorses Abortion
Dec 13th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Vatican says human life ‘can never be reduced merely to a group of cells.’ Just so.… Read the rest
Scientific American on Vatican ‘Instructions’
Dec 13th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The Vatican is committed to conception that involves marital sex. Why?… Read the rest
Vatican’s Position is Scientifically Insupportable
Dec 13th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The Center for Inquiry deplores the Vatican’s pronouncement.… Read the rest
