New Irish government legislation will state that the confessional is not beyond the law. Priests say yes it is.… 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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
Irish government expects Vatican to hurry up 
Jul 18th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
And respond to the Cloyne report.… Read the rest
Archbishop dismisses George Pitcher
Jul 18th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Pitcher tells the Guardian he is better suited to journalism. Journalism? George Pitcher?… Read the rest
Patricia Churchland on the biology of ethics
Jul 17th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Churchland thinks the search for what she calls “exceptionless rules” has deformed modern moral philosophy. … Read the rest
Bachmann Christian “clinic” got federal funds
Jul 17th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Marcus Bachmann’s “Christian family clinic” received $137k in Medicaid funds plus $24k in federal funds to train clinic employees. … Read the rest
“Faith healer” scam in Leeds
Jul 17th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Knock on the door, say the householder is ill because of black magic, demand £501 to lift the spell. Easy money.… Read the rest
Upshot of Cloyne report: never trust a bishop
Jul 17th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
We are long overdue the pleasure of seeing these sleekit and conniving, bumptious and arrogant prelates brought low.… Read the rest
Crozier no longer more powerful than the Dail
Jul 17th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Any argument about the supposed primacy of canon law over civil law is over. But guidelines can be ignored or circumvented.… Read the rest
Lauryn Oates on the bored ayatollahs
Jul 16th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
One would think that suppressing a mass uprising would keep Iran’s theocrats busy, but the ayatollahs have been more focused lately on skirt hems and hair-dos.… Read the rest
UK: chief rabbi bewails loss of religious liberty
Jul 16th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Joins the archbishop of Canterbury in claiming that equality legislation equals “an erosion of religious liberty.”… Read the rest
Jesus and Mo and Moses emigrate
Jul 16th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
In search of more religious freedom than they can find in the decadent West.… Read the rest
Afghan women protest, men rage
Jul 16th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Red-faced angry men shouted insults and spat on the ground as they passed.… Read the rest
“Interfaith” initiatives exclude the nonreligious
Jul 16th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Any effort to nudge the purposely faithless under an “interfaith” umbrella abuses language, and does so in a way that disrespects the nonreligious.… Read the rest
Dawkins on Rick Perry’s “call to prayer”
Jul 15th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Governor Perry would call himself a conservative, but he is a traitor to the very Constitution he pledges to uphold.… Read the rest
Brothers jailed for “dishonour” killing
Jul 15th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Their mother ended her marriage and was seeing another man, so the brothers and a cousin killed him.… Read the rest
Vatican has a history of not cooperating
Jul 15th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Worried more about an “affront to Vatican sovereignty” than its own wrongdoing.… Read the rest
“Vatican watchers” call Irish protests “strident”
Jul 15th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Pope is rethinking plans for Irish holiday next summer.… Read the rest
Gilmore says Vatican violated Ireland’s sovereignty
Jul 15th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“There’s one law in this country. Everybody is going to have to learn to comply with it. The Vatican will have to comply with the laws of this country.”… Read the rest
Priests face prosecution if they obstruct justice
Jul 15th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Ireland’s prime minister says Catholic clerics will be prosecuted if they failed to tell the authorities about crimes disclosed during confession. … Read the rest
