Foreign minister explained: ‘Any foreigner who comes to criticize our country will be immediately expelled.’… 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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
Mary Warnock Urges: Legalize Assisted Suicide 
Oct 25th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
We have a moral obligation to take other people’s seriously reached decisions with regard to their own lives equally seriously.… Read the rest
Meera Nanda on the God Delusion in Action
Oct 24th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Something amiss in the way ‘modern’ Indians encounter the products of science with a medieval worldview.… Read the rest
From Burke to Palin
Oct 24th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Conservative writers find that the anti-intellectualism their side encouraged has begun to consume their movement.… Read the rest
Tauriq Moosa on Being an Ex-Muslim
Oct 24th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘I attended seven madrassas. At each one, I was physically abused by the jaded jackals of god’s word.’… Read the rest
UN Seminar to Discuss Limits to Free Speech
Oct 23rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Pakistan, Algeria, Egypt, Indonesia and the OIC representative called for tighter restrictions.… Read the rest
At the Seminar
Oct 23rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Diene: Freedom of Expression is politically instrumantalised to propagate racist platforms.… Read the rest
Center for Inquiry Joins Debate at UN HRC
Oct 23rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
CFI and IHEU sponsored a discussion on restrictions to free inquiry into religious matters at the HRC.… Read the rest
Nesrine Malik on Death for Apostasy
Oct 23rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Death penalty not gratuitously applied; scholars differ; death threat evoked rarely; all okay then.… Read the rest
Is There a Clash of Civilizations?
Oct 23rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
CFI proposes an alternative to UN Alliance of Civilizations, one rooted in secular, liberal values.… Read the rest
Millennium Development Summit: No Women
Oct 23rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
24 speakers, every one a man. One of the Millennium Goals is gender equality. Oh well.… Read the rest
Greenspan ‘Shocked’ to Find His Ideology Flawed
Oct 23rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Greenspan said he was in ‘a state of shocked disbelief’ about banks’ inability to regulate themselves. … Read the rest
Michael Walzer on Possible Foreign Policy
Oct 22nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
If Obama is elected, how will American foreign policy change?… Read the rest
Ronald Aronson Replies to ‘The New Atheists’
Oct 22nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Let’s all oppose claims of absolute knowledge, and those who would impose their claims on others.… Read the rest
Review of ‘Philosophy and Real Politics’
Oct 22nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
To introduce a note of realism into philosophical debates about justice, by force if necessary.… Read the rest
Higher Education in the US
Oct 22nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A majority of the students whom colleges admit are grossly underprepared.… Read the rest
The Atheist Bus Campaign
Oct 22nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
There’s probably no God; now stop worrying and enjoy your life. Any more fares please.… Read the rest
Susan Neiman on Morality and Religion
Oct 22nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Whatever the source of moral judgment is, it isn’t divine authority.… Read the rest
Kambaksh Death Sentence Commuted
Oct 21st, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
To 20 years in prison for downloading material from the internet on women’s rights in Islam.… Read the rest
Charity Worker Killed in Afghanistan
Oct 21st, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Taleban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told AFP that they killed Gayle Williams.… Read the rest
