Does the “ministerial exception” apply to all church employees, who thus lose the protections of civil rights laws?
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Inevitably links go out of date.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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Carl Zimmer on meta science journalism
Science lets reporters see papers early, and reporters regularly seek out other scientists for comments on those papers before publishing their articles.
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Amnesty: children were tortured in Irish institutions
The abuse of thousands of children in State and church run institutions in Ireland amounted to torture, a scathing report from Amnesty International has found.
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Pakistan: family refuses to “honor kill” raped daughter
She was kidnapped and gang-raped; the tribal elders declared her kari for losing her virginity outside marriage.
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School cancels author’s visit in “blasphemy” row
Monkton head teacher Richard Backhouse said he did not believe the book was “appropriate” for a Christian school.
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Increasing religious violence in Indonesia
Indonesia has a history of conflict between its Muslim and Christian populations, with 5,000 killed and 500,000 displaced by such violence between 1992 and 2002.
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Zippy neutrinos show how science differs from religion
The issue will not be settled by consulting some supposedly infallible text but rather by close scrutiny of the controversial data and further experimentation if necessary.
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Mirror mirror on the wall, who’s the purest of them all?
The horrors of growing up pure.
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What’s behind the scorn for the Wall Street protests?
Some of this anti-protest posturing is just the all-too-familiar New-Republic-ish eagerness to prove one’s own Seriousness by castigating anyone to the left of John Kerry.
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A First Amendment showdown on campus
This week, Wisconsin is ground zero in the battle between university bureaucrats and free speech champions.
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Atheism has a sexism problem
Women have been activists and leaders in this movement for a long time yet they always get forgotten when it’s time to give credit or build a list of invited speakers for a conference.
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University threatens criminal charges over TV poster
Next up for banning: The Iliad, The Odyssey, Medea, Agamemnon, The Trojan Women, Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, King Lear…
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Martin Robbins on politicalcorrectnessgonemad
It’s not enough that the BBC allows staff to use BC and AD, they must use it, always, or face the wrath of the Daily Mail crusaders.
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Head of Italian Bishops Conference outraged by sex scandals
No not those. Berlusconi’s.
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Jehovah’s Witness magazine calls ex-members crazy
Article says “apostates are ‘mentally diseased’, and they seek to infect others with their disloyal teachings.” Some “apostates” have complained to police.
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Saudi woman to be whipped for driving
Whipped. Ten strokes. For driving a car.
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Pope urges interfaith project to stop secularism
All faiths have to work together to stanch the tide of secularism sweeping the world, said theocrat Joseph Ratzinger.
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Ratcheting up the difficulty of getting an abortion
In 1982, there were 2,908 providers in the US. As of 2008, there were only 1,793.
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World leaders pay tribute to Wangari Maathai
“She will be remembered as a committed champion of the environment, sustainable development, womens’ rights, and democracy,” said Kofi Annan.
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Wangari Maathai 1940-2011
Her husband divorced her, saying she was too strong-minded for a woman. Her Green Belt Movement has planted over 30 million trees in Africa and helped nearly 900,000 women.