Andrew Copson has been appointed to the BBC’s Standing Conference on Religion and Belief.
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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
-
Ahmadinejad Defends Saberi’s Rights – Sort Of
Would be a good-will gesture to release her. Even better not to have arrested her in the first place…
-
Nazila Fathi on Saberi’s Sentence
The verdict came after an unusually swift trial, which was conducted behind closed doors.
-
Growing Boycott of Durban II
Dutch FM concerned that some countries would misuse the UN meeting to put religion above human rights.
-
Jim Holt Reads Simon Critchley
The idea that death is not such a bad thing may be liberating, but is it true?
-
Baggini Chides the ‘New’ Atheists Again
Atheists must turn down the volume and present a more agreeable face; otherwise we’re stuck with Bunting.
-
PZ Finds Bunting and Baggini Unconvincing
What the New Atheism has brought is more openness; we are building a lively community of the godless.
-
What the Chaplain Said
Talk Islam has the whole thing; it’s gruesome stuff.
-
Female Soldiers Face Sexual Violence
30% of military women are raped while serving, 71% are sexually assaulted, and 90% are sexually harassed.
-
Roxana Saberi Sentenced to Eight Years
Reza Saberi said interrogators used undue pressure against his daughter to procure statements.
-
Hitchens on Paine, Obama, Warren, Washington
The name of Paine, our unacknowledged Founding Father, can only be used in a kind of code.
-
Negotiations Over Durban II
US will not accept any text citing ‘incitement to religious hatred’ as a pretext for restricting free speech.
-
Amnesty International Fears Imminent Execution
Delara Darabi was sentenced to death for murder for a crime she committed when she was 17.
-
Iran Set to Execute Darabi
Iran’s penal code holds a 9-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy to be legally responsible if involved in crime.
-
Paul Kurtz on Torture and American Democracy
US democracy is based on laws and committed to the defense of human rights. Let’s keep it that way.
-
Jason Rosenhouse Wonders What the Point Is
Baggini urges us to talk about what is of value in religion, then derides liberal theology as woolly-minded.
-
Faisal Gazi on Kenan Malik’s Fatwa to Jihad
The grievance culture of radical Islam is winning the battle against Enlightenment values.
-
Harvard Islamic Chaplain Pro Death for Apostasy
‘Even if it makes some uncomfortable in the face of the hegemonic modern human rights discourse, one should not dismiss it out of hand.’
-
Jonathan Derbyshire Interviews John Gray
‘Why should one think that, because knowledge has grown, human beings will be less prone to cowardice and cruelty?’
-
Tom Flynn on ‘Spirituality’ Run Amok
Avowedly ‘spiritual’ people think avowedly non-spiritual people are made of cast iron.