‘I think that faith is completely rational. The debate in Britain has become incredibly secularised.’… 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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
Gutter Politics 
Oct 5th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Palin says Obama is ‘palling around’ with Bill Ayers.… Read the rest
Pope Complains of Indifference to Religion
Oct 5th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Worried about future of gold robes and chalices perhaps.… Read the rest
Interview with Parvaneh Osanloo
Oct 5th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Her husband, union leader Mansoor Osanloo, has been in prison for 18 months for organizing bus drivers.… Read the rest
The O’Reilly Proof of the Existence of God
Oct 5th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Bold, fresh guy; working class; sells millions of books; therefore God exists.… Read the rest
Saudi Woman Crashes Car, Clerics Overjoyed
Oct 4th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
See? See? Woman drives, woman crashes, therefore ban fully justified. Men never crash cars.… Read the rest
Saudi Cleric Wants One-eye Niqab
Oct 4th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Women can use two eyes to look seductive, says lunatic.… Read the rest
Andrew Sullivan on Palin’s Creativity With Facts
Oct 4th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Said she called for divestment in Sudan. In fact she blocked divestment bill, which failed.… Read the rest
NY Times on The Reckoning
Oct 4th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Banks wanted exemption from debt limitation; they got it, amid ‘nervous laughter.’… Read the rest
Jonathan Raban on Sarah Palin
Oct 4th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Palin never thinks. Instead, she relies on a limited stock of facts, bright generalities and pokerwork maxims.’… Read the rest
Catholics Worry About ‘Doctors’ Rights’
Oct 3rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Patients’ rights not so important, at least when it comes to abortion.… Read the rest
Philosophers Need to Get Off Their…Chairs
Oct 3rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
An armchair in flames has become the informal symbol of the experimental-philosophy movement.… Read the rest
Adam Gopnik on Richard Reeves on Mill
Oct 3rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Aristides the Just was banished from Athens because people were fed up with hearing him called Aristides the Just.… Read the rest
Repression Worsens in Burma
Oct 3rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘While a handful of political activists have been released, more are being arrested and thousands remain in prison.’… Read the rest
US Opposing ‘Defamation of Religion’ Resolution
Oct 3rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Promoters of the coalition want to avoid being branded as part of a neocon effort to attack Muslims.… Read the rest
Religious Killings Bad for India’s Reputation
Oct 2nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Attempts to restore peace to Kandhamal district, the epicentre of the religious riots, have had little effect.… Read the rest
Left’s ‘Creeping Racialist Antipathy’ to Muslims
Oct 2nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Muslims are denied the right to take offence when their most holy emblems are deliberately pilloried.’… Read the rest
S. Fleischacker on the Israel-Palestine Conflict
Oct 2nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The Biblical claim to the land should be retired permanently from debates over this issue.… Read the rest
Michael Walzer on Greed and the Financial Crisis
Oct 2nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The right people to blame are the market ideologues and the politicians they seduced.… Read the rest
Blinded by Divine Light
Oct 2nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Science is based solely on doubt-based, disinterested examination of the natural and physical world. … Read the rest
