Claims religious discrimination. Refused to hear child read Harry Potter book.
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Inevitably links go out of date.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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Ronald Aronson on the New Atheism
About 25% of Americans must be getting fed up with being routinely marginalized, ignored and insulted.
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Dutch Labour Party Tells Member to Shut Up
Ehsan Jami is fighting for the rights and safety of Muslim ‘apostates.’
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Democratic Candidates Trot Out Their ‘Faith’
Faith (applause) sin (applause) sinner (applause) evil (applause) courage (applause).
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Did Brownback Realize What He Was Saying?
‘Doesn’t somebody at the Times keep an eye out for gross errors of fact on the editorial pages?’
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Zeynep Pamuk Wins Philosophy Olympics
Orhan Pamuk’s niece wins with her article on Spinoza’s coception of a state.
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Afghan Woman Radio Journalist Murdered
Another woman silenced, another journalist silenced, another triumph for men with guns.
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Woman TV Journalist Murdered in Afghanistan
Shakiba Sanga Amaj, associated with the private Shamshad TV channel, was killed at home in Kabul.
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RSF Shocked at Murder of Zakia Zaki
Zaki ran Peace Radio and was head of a local school; received death threats after criticizing Taliban.
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Sami Zubaida on Many Faces of Multiculturalism
Diverse Muslims are totalised into a ‘Muslim community’ as if religion were the essence of identity.
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Pascal Bruckner on Sarkozy and Kouchner
The battle of the preferable against the detestable is preferable to a crusade of Good against Evil.
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Postmodernismen raserar vårt kunskapsarv
It sounds better in Swedish.
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Katha Pollitt on Internationalist Feminism
The only Americans who do the heavy lifting on issues of Muslim women’s rights are feminists.
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Atheism is a Faith, Chapter 4785
Faith is a world view, therefore atheism is a faith, and an extreme fundamentalist faith at that.
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Clerics Make a Mistake in Pressuring Legislators
Legislators don’t vote on behalf of the Pope, archbishop, imam or rabbi.
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Catholic MPs Under Pressure
To vote to restrict abortion, raising fears over the encroachment of religion on women’s rights.
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David Thompson Poses a Key Question
Is it possible to oppose the oppression of women without challenging specific religious laws?
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Cardinals, Back Off
The ferocity of the clerics’ language is important.
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Another Bishop Backs Controls on Women
New bill will call for mandatory counselling and a seven day wait before any abortion.
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Lee Smolin on the Other Einstein
Not the one in Isaacson’s cozy patronizing mythology.