Priests, imams and rabbis reserve for their beliefs a special respect, ringfenced from normal public argument.
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Inevitably links go out of date.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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Iran Closed Shirin Ebadi’s Human Rights Group
HRW called on the Iranian government to allow the Defenders of Human Rights Center to reopen its office.
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Saddleback Website Removes a Certain Item
‘Someone unwilling to repent of their homosexual lifestyle would not be accepted as a member.’
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Huckabee Bleats About Persecution of Xians
Says accommodations are made for people of ‘every faith except Christians.’ Really?
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Katha Pollitt: Rick Warren is an Insulting Choice
Only Democrats reward their most loyal supporters by elbowing them aside to embrace their opponents instead.
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Bush Admin’s Role in Mortgage Meltdown
‘We forgot that it has to be done in the context of people being able to afford their house.’ Ah.
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Pope Trumpets His Homophobia
Repudiates gender theory, wants men to be men and women to be women.
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Barney Frank is Irritated About Rick Warren
It’s a big honor, and Warren is the wrong guy to get it.
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Go to Lourdes, Get Gastroenteritis
8 million people, many with underlying diseases, made a ‘pilgrimage’ to Lourdes this year.
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Saudi Court Refuses Divorce to 8-Year-Old Girl
Her father married her to a man, 58, for 30,000 riyals, because he had ‘financial problems.’
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BNP Reaches Out to Kids, Gets Nazis Instead
The BNP wants to be seen as a ‘real’ political party, as opposed to a party for Nazi fantasists.
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Azarmehr on Jim Muir and the BBC on Iran
After Jim Muir’s departure from Tehran, many hoped there would be more realistic reporting.
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Conference: Why is Secularism Essential?
OWL is organizing a conference on the impact of religion on the situation and status of women.
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Ian McKellen Criticizes ‘Faith’ Schools
He fears that many ‘faith’ schools are preaching religious doctrines, such as ‘homosexuality is a sin.’
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Grayling on the Real Jihadists
The churches answered criticism in the past with murder; if they still had the upper hand would they now restrict themselves to words?
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Jacob Zuma Sues Cartoonist
Zapiro said he used Lady Justice to represent the South African judicial system.
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The Einstein Controversy
Robert Schulmann, John Stachel and Gerald Holton on PBS’s error-filled ‘Einstein’s Wife’
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Rules to Protect Pharmacists Who Refuse
Protects medical workers who refuse to participate in care they find ‘morally or religiously objectionable.’
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Secular Turks Face Discrimination
Non-religious nurses put on permanent night shift; landlords refusing hijabless female tenants.
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Man Offers Shoe-thrower a Bride
What the prospective bride might think is not mentioned.