Sultan joins a growing list of public critics of radical Islam facing death threats.… 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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
Old Tibet Was no Shangri-la 
Apr 8th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
One third of the boys in Tibet were forcibly taken by the monastery. That’s human rights?… Read the rest
Standing Idly By While Rights Are Undermined
Apr 7th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
By seeking to criminalize free speech, the resolution stands in breach of the UDHR.… Read the rest
Hitchens on Belief in Belief
Apr 7th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Is it not possible that the missionaries of ‘faith’ regard the objects of their charity as mere raw material?… Read the rest
Mass Rescue at Fundamentalist Compound
Apr 7th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Authorities remove more than 220 women and children from polygamous Mormon ranch in Texas.… Read the rest
Convenient Untruths
Apr 7th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Humans have a remarkable ability to tune out facts that don’t support pre-existing beliefs. … Read the rest
Human Rights and Free Speech Rights
Apr 7th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A group of students filed a complaint against Maclean’s for a piece they feel violated their human rights.… Read the rest
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan Report
Apr 6th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
2007 proved to be one of the worst years for human rights in Pakistan’s history… Read the rest
Two Men Get Months in Prison for Killing Woman
Apr 6th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Tribunal reduced the murder charge to a misdemeanour: defendant was defending ‘family honour.’… Read the rest
Matthew Parris Corrects Blair’s Homework
Apr 6th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Define your terms. What’s your evidence for this? How do you square this with para 2? What does this mean?… Read the rest
‘Psychics’ Fight New Consumer Laws
Apr 6th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Promises to raise the dead, secure good fortune or heal via laying on of hands all at risk of legal action.… Read the rest
Grayling on ‘Explaining Religion’
Apr 6th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The concept of religiosity will need clarification before a computational model of its dynamics is possible.… Read the rest
‘Abortion’ Search Term Blocked on Website
Apr 5th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Under Bush policy, USAID denies funding to NGOs that promote abortion. … Read the rest
Blair Says How Useful Religion Is
Apr 5th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Faith is reduced to a system of strange convictions.’ But without strange convictions, what is ‘faith’?… Read the rest
Zadie Smith the Dream, Naipaul the Nightmare
Apr 5th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
For a successful immigrant writer to take the positions he did was seen as a special kind of treason.… Read the rest
Steinbeck’s Reputation
Apr 5th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Required reading in US schools, ignored everywhere else.… Read the rest
Unprecedented April 1 Victory for Rationalism
Apr 5th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Catholic priests in Gateshead will be required to read out a disclaimer prior to Communion. … Read the rest
Khadim Hussain on the Tribal Areas [scroll down]
Apr 4th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The Sharia Nizam-i-Adl Regulation 2008 would make the courts subservient to the clerics. … Read the rest
Farish Noor on ‘Heftier Penalties’ in Malaysia
Apr 4th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Let the cameras of the international media film Malaysians being whipped by the morality police.… Read the rest
Austin Dacey Reviews Charles Taylor
Apr 4th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
There are plenty of naturalistic explanations for the transcendent urge. … Read the rest
