‘Faith groups’ and the local hate-crime unit get together to sniff out and ban the offensive.… 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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
The Hague Stops Paying for Hirsi Ali’s Protection 
Oct 4th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Dutch Green MPs call for parliamentary debate on how the Government plans to organise her protection.… Read the rest
Gul Calls for Changes to Article 301
Oct 4th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Among those prosecuted under the law against ‘insulting Turkishness’: Orhan Pamuk and Hrant Dink.… Read the rest
‘The Kite Runner’ Delayed to Protect Child Stars
Oct 4th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The studio is delaying the film’s release in response to fears that its schoolboy stars could be attacked.… Read the rest
The Pulping of ‘Alms for Jihad’
Oct 4th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The case is fanning widespread concern that English libel law is stifling writers far beyond the UK.… Read the rest
Interview With Flemming Rose
Oct 4th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘The left is in a deep crisis in Europe because of their unwillingness to confront the racist ideology of Islamism.’… Read the rest
Fred Halliday on a Debate in Amsterdam
Oct 4th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The Netherlands is at the centre of European argument about secularism, multiculturalism and Islam.… Read the rest
Scruton Reviews Grayling
Oct 4th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Rebukes him for discussing human rights while overlooking the ‘right to hunt.’… Read the rest
Nuns and Child Abuse
Oct 3rd, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
No audit has been carried out to determine how many nuns have abused children. … Read the rest
Two Plays About Muslim Women
Oct 3rd, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
And the men who murder them.… Read the rest
Ali Eteraz on an Islamic Counter-reformation
Oct 3rd, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The one thing the traditionalists guarded more than anything was the power to hand down fatwas.… Read the rest
Why Minorities Should Cherish Free Speech
Oct 3rd, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘If people were forced by law to respect other people’s identities, you couldn’t criticise anything.’… Read the rest
Risky Scholarship
Oct 3rd, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Haleh Esfandiari’s time in Evin prison highlights the danger of studying repressive regimes.… Read the rest
On Mark Lilla and Charles Taylor on Secularism
Oct 3rd, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
We have not vanquished political theology -only sedated the beast, hoping it does not again awake. … Read the rest
God’s Sick Punch Lines
Oct 2nd, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Around the world, more and more people seem to be finding Gods, each more hateful and bloody than the next.… Read the rest
Review of Nussbaum’s The Clash Within
Oct 2nd, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
What the Hindu fundamentalist forces did to the foundations of Indian civilisation has now become well known. … Read the rest
Mitchell Cohen on the ‘New’ Atheism
Oct 2nd, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Parts of the left apologize for Islamism as an earlier generation found ways to apologize for Stalinism. … Read the rest
Karen Armstrong Blames Dawkins for Islamism
Oct 2nd, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
But Koranic fundamentalists are capable of coming up with their own follies without outside prompting.… Read the rest
Logical Path from Religious Beliefs to Evil Deeds
Oct 2nd, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Religion can change the definition of good.… Read the rest
Ian Buruma Points out the Obvious
Oct 1st, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Religion is sometimes a force for good; other times it’s not; communism can work the same way; etc.… Read the rest
