‘Atheist prose tends to be clear, unadorned by allegory and utterly characterless.’ Oh yeah?… 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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
Jesus and Mo on the Efficacy of Prayer 
Dec 17th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
God is amazing.… Read the rest
Jesus and Mo Quiz the Barmaid
Dec 17th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Why are atheists so angry at the religious?… Read the rest
Gilles Kepel on a Clash of Fundamentalisms
Dec 16th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Without TV and the Internet, jihad would be an alarming but marginal form of immoderation.… Read the rest
Catherine Bennett on Hitchens on Women
Dec 16th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Women unamused by their own physical decay? Hitchens oblivious? ‘Now, why is this?’… Read the rest
Nigel Warburton Interviews Jonathan Wolff
Dec 15th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The best combine imagination and argument; a new landscape of ideas, and how to defend it.… Read the rest
Nigel Warburton Interviews Mel Thompson
Dec 15th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Some of my most bored moments have been trying to read those who think that the more clever and obscure they sound, the more profound their thought.’… Read the rest
From the Researchers to the Flacks to Hitchens
Dec 15th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
In today’s public discourse, science is treated not as a search for truth, but as source of edifying fables. … Read the rest
Christians Sue to Block Gay Rights Legislation
Dec 15th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Colin Hart of Christian Institute said concerns of religious people had been ‘trampled over.’… Read the rest
Taliban Law Blocked in NWFP, Pakistan
Dec 15th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Supreme Court instructed the provincial governor not to sign the bill.… Read the rest
Indy Dons the Foil Hat
Dec 15th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
There are unanswered questions about that Paris car crash. Therefore, the black swan did it.… Read the rest
What to Say When You’re Wrong
Dec 14th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘He just had some kind of silly positivistic notions of science, he doesn’t know what science is.’… Read the rest
Secular Nepal
Dec 14th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Hindu activists are demanding that Nepal be declared a Hindu state again. … Read the rest
Harvard Drops ‘Reason and Faith’ Requirement
Dec 14th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Philosopher notes Moral Reasoning can cover ‘what we do and do not have reason to do and believe.’… Read the rest
Arab Women Unequal in Health and Education
Dec 14th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Tangled as it is with religion and culture, the issue of the status of women is a political minefield.… Read the rest
Hilary Putnam Reviews Goldstein on Spinoza
Dec 14th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Rebecca Goldstein’s Betraying Spinoza speaks directly to my puzzlement.’… Read the rest
Scott McLemee Interviews Robert Irwin
Dec 14th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Said, as literary theorist, was prone to the sweeping generalization. Irwin, as historian, is the partisan of noisome little facts.’… Read the rest
Why Truth Matters Most Underrated Book
Dec 13th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Prospect cites chord struck with ‘liberal neocons’. Wot?… Read the rest
Opposition to Amendments to Hudood Ordinance
Dec 13th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Pakistan’s 1979 law against rape that punished rape victims and gave legal safeguards to rapists.… Read the rest
Chen Ziming Free After 17 Years
Dec 13th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Dream was to create a civil society of lobby groups and NGOs with a voice able to challenge the party.… Read the rest
