Strong opponent of same-sex unions said to have had three-year sexual relationship with male prostitute. … 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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
Ethiopian Reaction to FGM Sentence 
Nov 3rd, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘The punishment is appropriate,’ said Bulti Gueteema, of the Ethiopian Ministry of Women’s Affairs.… Read the rest
Scott McLemee on Lawrence Levine
Nov 2nd, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
He looked at the diversity of cultural traditions making up American life. … Read the rest
Man Sentenced to Prison for FGM of Daughter
Nov 2nd, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Khalid Adem found guilty of aggravated battery and cruelty to children by a Georgia court. … Read the rest
US, Vatican Impede Sexual Health Goals
Nov 1st, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Religious zealots prefer STDs and unwanted pregnancies to birth control.… Read the rest
Danny Postel and Nader Hashemi on Max Boot
Nov 1st, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Iranian dissidents want the support of human rights groups, intellectuals, NGOs, not of foreign powers.… Read the rest
Turkish Archaeologist Acquitted
Nov 1st, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Charges were brought against her by a Turkish lawyer who took offence at her 2005 book.… Read the rest
Michael Collins on Sen’s Identity and Violence
Nov 1st, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Fluid and evolving nature of identities, and differences within cultural groupings, are obscured. … Read the rest
John Gray on Michael Burleigh on Secularism
Nov 1st, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Much of the book is a laboured defence of the Vatican against charges of complicity with Nazism.… Read the rest
Atheists’ ‘Nauseous Undertone of Racial Superiority’
Oct 31st, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
White people are atheists, non-white people are theists, therefore atheists are as bad as Cecil Rhodes.… Read the rest
Faith, Hope, and Selective Schools
Oct 31st, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Amendment will give greater freedom to discriminate on grounds of religion in hiring staff and teachers.… Read the rest
Nick Cohen Reviews Debating Humanism
Oct 31st, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The politically literate will notice that this collection of essays comes from the RCP.… Read the rest
Elephant Recognises Herself in Mirror
Oct 31st, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Showing self-awareness seen before only in humans, great apes and bottlenose dolphins.… Read the rest
Terry Glavin on Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury
Oct 31st, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The phony charges against him were revived by a notorious Islamist judge; his trial is next month.… Read the rest
Garry Wills on Faith-Based Everything
Oct 30th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Faith-based war, law enforcement, education, medicine, and science. … Read the rest
Christopher Shea on Reading Nafisi at Columbia
Oct 30th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Some observers question the intellectual merit of the brand of literary criticism Dabashi practices.… Read the rest
Review of The God Delusion
Oct 30th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Perceptive recognition of excess respect for religious beliefs, regardless of content.… Read the rest
Romano on Young-Bruehl on Why Arendt Matters
Oct 30th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Hint: ‘the banality of evil’ is not all.… Read the rest
Jihad in 1857
Oct 30th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Educated Delhi Muslims rejected the west and the gentle Sufi traditions of late Mughal emperors.… Read the rest
Atheists Top Book Charts by Teasing Deity
Oct 29th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Publishers eager to replicate success of Russell’s Why I Am Not a Christian.… Read the rest
