Preferring modern fundamentalism to terrorism runs the risk of having both.… 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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
Police to Receive ‘Faith Education’
Mar 28th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘As part of plans to improve the handling of religiously aggravated crimes.’ Improve how?… Read the rest
Fundamentalists Play Moral Cops, Executioners
Mar 28th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonGroup of men accuse woman of affair, then stab her to death.… Read the rest
Child Abuse Hidden for Fear of ‘Dishonour’
Mar 28th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonMost people surveyed said they felt the authorities did not understand their religion and culture.… Read the rest
Raymond Bradley: The Rivalry Between Religions
Mar 28th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonRight at the outset, one is faced with a huge number of possible candidates for belief.… Read the rest
Interview with Bernard-Henri Lévy
Mar 28th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWe reject the horrors of our past: That should be enough. That’s an identity. … Read the rest
Wiccan Says She Was Sacked for ‘Faith’
Mar 27th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘Saying, “I can train you to put spells” is a problem.’… Read the rest
Islamist Organizations and ‘Honour’ Killings
Mar 27th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘It is allowing the man to say “my religion says you must behave this way”.’… Read the rest
Science Weekly
Mar 27th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonPsychopharmacologist David Nutt; Grayling on God, creationism and the attraction of pseudoscience.… Read the rest
Grayling on Why Atheists Resist
Mar 27th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAs knowledge replaced animism, deities became invisible, receding to mountain tops and then to the sky. … Read the rest
Sounds Like a Fun Evening
Mar 27th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonDawkins, Grayling, Hitchens against religion; Neuberger, Scruton, Spivey for.… Read the rest
Despondent Woman Too Busy for Sex in 2003
Mar 26th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘By the time people have been to the shopping mall and watched all the television they want, there is not much time for sex.’… Read the rest
Tragic Woman Still Sexless in 2007!
Mar 26th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonCan no one help her? Will it take another four years?… Read the rest
GP/Health Journalist: Homeopathy Not so Bad
Mar 26th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘Even the fiercest critics of homeopathy will agree that it does no harm.’ Oh really?… Read the rest
Mina Ahadi Says ‘Stop Calling us Muslims’
Mar 26th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWhen they put us all in one sack, they make the leaders of Islamic organisations our leaders.… Read the rest
Colin McGinn: Michael Frayn’s The Human Touch
Mar 26th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAmiable ramble is quite unconvincing in its main thesis and seems to rest on some obvious errors.… Read the rest
Bal Patil Asks, Whither Globalisation?
Mar 26th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia Benson18,000 children die every day of hunger and malnutrition; 85 million go to bed hungry every night.… Read the rest
Secular Muslims Get All the Attention
Mar 25th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonBut theocrats are the majority, therefore secularists should not get all this media coverage.… Read the rest
Sorry, God, You’re Off the Guest List
Mar 25th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonNiqab ruling; Charlie Hebdo; gay rights; a good week for secularism.… Read the rest
MCC Thanks Muslim Organizations for Support
Mar 25th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThere should be no room for violence, intimidation and threats in the Muslim discourse.… Read the rest