Yes, the new atheists have rejected their traditional role of keeping silent in the face of religious oppression.
Category: Latest News
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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
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Soraya Chemaly on teenage girls, anger, and depression
Girls, like boys, feel fully human, but culture tells them that they are not.
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Parents of Shafilea Ahmed jailed for life for her murder
The judge told them: “Your concern about being shamed in your community was greater than the love of your child.”
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Germany: Catholic bishop calls for blasphemy law
“Those who injure the souls of believers with scorn and derision must be put in their place and in some cases also punished,” he said.
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Jared Diamond on Romney’s misunderstanding of his book
Will Romney continue to espouse one-factor explanations for multicausal problems, and fail to understand history and the modern world? Probably.
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Pakistan: girl, 13, tortured to death in “exorcism”
Her parents had taken the girl to the pir ‘to evict djinns who had possessed her’. Her skin was burnt with a hot iron rod and she was suffocated.
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Jim Underdown on hatred, threats, harassment directed at women
“Maybe we can save the witty jabs for our real enemies like Sylvia Browne, homeopathy, and Power Balance Bracelets.”
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NY Times on sexual harassment in online gaming
“We are a real mass medium, and we have a real effect on the culture. We have to take a step beyond this idea that nothing we could possibly do could hurt people.”
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Gore Vidal 1925-2012
He could always be counted on for a spur-of-the-moment aphorism, putdown or sharply worded critique of American foreign policy.
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Mali government denounces stoning as ‘dark-age practice’
The hardline Islamists on Sunday placed an unmarried couple in holes in the ground and stoned them to death in front of about 200 people.
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“Adulterous” couple stoned to death in northern Mali
Witnesses said the couple were buried up to their necks, then pelted with stones until they died.
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Turkish women march for abortion rights
Renewed debate over abortion rights in Turkey has women wondering whether gender equality is being left behind.
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Saudi Arabia pitches hijab fit at Olympics
The International Judo Federation said Wojdan Shaherkani must fight without the hijab for safety reasons, so the Saudis threatened to withdraw her.
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Laurie Penny and Martin Robbins on talking to men about sexism
So what you’re saying is that men are socialised to feel bad if they don’t participate in a culture that hurts and objectifies women?
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Pussy riot rockers could get 7 years in prison
They pleaded not guilty to the official charges of hooliganism driven by “religious hatred” for performing a punk prayer in Moscow’s main cathedral.
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A big celebration of patriarchal tradition
Taslima Nasreen on the festival of Raksha Bandhan or the bond of protection. Sisters pray for brothers; brothers promise to protect sisters.
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Xian School rejects toddler because his fathers are gay
The rejection letter said the school is private and thus exempt from “excessive government interference in matters of religion.” It will get $60,000+ from feds this year.
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Philosophers propose boycott of all-male conferences
“One non-trivial way in which the status quo replicates and reinforces itself is through conferences and edited volumes that have only male, invited keynote-speakers.”
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Kyle Sandilands isn’t going to change
An organisation which earns millions isn’t going to become less sexist or “edgy” when there’s no profit in doing so.
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Are climate sceptics more likely to be conspiracy theorists?
The link between endorsing conspiracy theories and rejecting climate science facts suggests that the libertarian instinct to reject the mainstream is key.
