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Inevitably links go out of date.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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Latest News
India: Activists Welcome Delhi Court Ruling
'Families who use this section to scare their children and get them married forcibly won't be able to do so.'
Date filed: 02-07-2009
India: Gay Sex Decriminalized
The ruling overturns a 148-year-old colonial law which calls a same-sex relationship an 'unnatural offence.'
Date filed: 02-07-2009
Madeleine Bunting on Science and Religion
No actually it turns out to be about 'the New Atheists' again. And 'Ditchkins.' Deep stuff.
Date filed: 02-07-2009
Zeinab Huq on Sharia Up Close and Personal
Whatever the protestations of its fans, this system of law does not favour women.
Date filed: 02-07-2009
Johann Hari on 'Does God Hate Women?'
After all the arguments for subordinating women have been shown to be self-serving lies, what are misogynists left with?
Date filed: 02-07-2009
Interview: Russell Blackford and Udo Schuklenk
Tired of religious people’s published musings about the struggle to find god? '50 Voices of Disbelief' can help.
Date filed: 01-07-2009
Bunglawala Says Sharia Courts Are Fine
Commenters point out the problem of inequality that Bugnlawala forgot to mention.
Date filed: 01-07-2009
Grayling on Clerical Cruelty and Dogmatism
The question of what archbishops and rabbis do to subvert the ethical maturation of humankind has to be addressed.
Date filed: 01-07-2009
Andrew Brown on How to Think About Sharia
'Perhaps the autonomous adult is an idealisation, useful for some purposes, but misleading for others.'
Date filed: 01-07-2009
Full Text of ABC's Wicked Letter
Hospices are better, he says.
Date filed: 30-06-2009
Religious Bullies Try to Block Euthanasia Law
Archbishops of C and W and Chief Rabbi join to prevent people from ending terminal suffering.
Date filed: 30-06-2009
Pope Delays Encyclical Because His Latin is Rusty
This encyclical will be the first written with the help of Google.
Date filed: 30-06-2009
No Tent for God, No Sleeping Bag, No Smores
Plenty of games of 'Find the unicorn' though.
Date filed: 30-06-2009
Interfaith Visit Goes Awry
Pupils and teacher on visit to Catholic college were asked to remove their niqabs.
Date filed: 30-06-2009
Quantum Mechanics and Religion
'A particle is everywhere in the universe at all times' therefore all religions are true. Or something.
Date filed: 30-06-2009
Newsweek Suggests 50 Books for Our Time
Including Jerry Coyne's Why Evolution is True; also Persepolis, Midnight's Children.
Date filed: 30-06-2009
Male Victims of Forced Marriage
Dozens of men in NE England have contacted Karma Nirvana, which will open a new centre for both sexes.
Date filed: 30-06-2009
Pope Identifies Bones as Paul's
Carbon dating confirms they are from the 1st or 2nd century, therefore they are Paul's.
Date filed: 29-06-2009
At the Paleontology Conference
A session entitled 'The Nature of Science and Public-Science Literacy' was devoted to theism.
Date filed: 29-06-2009
Madoff Sentenced to 150 Years
No friends, family or other supporters submitted any letters attesting to good deeds Madoff did.
Date filed: 29-06-2009
Arrested Iranian Journalists Prisoners of Conscience
The only message the authorities are sending is that they are seeking to hide the truth.
Date filed: 29-06-2009
Rafsanjani Thanks Leader for Extending Deadline
Expediency Council Chairman Rafsanjani said Supreme Leader’s decision was valuable.
Date filed: 29-06-2009
The Joys of Wearing Hijab
It's modest. It's a feminist standpoint. It helps men. It's identity. It makes you happier as a person.
Date filed: 28-06-2009
Accommodationism: Onward and Downward
The struggle shifts to trying to get Chris Mooney to acknowledge his own claims.
Date filed: 28-06-2009
NHS Doctors Want to Talk 'Faith'
Don't want to wait for patients to ask, want to offer prayers without being asked.
Date filed: 28-06-2009
Sholto Byrnes Reviews Does God Hate Women?
Hates it - 'inflammatory in the extreme,' no mention of female heads of state. 'Fans of Richard Dawkins will love it.' Thanks!
Date filed: 28-06-2009
Iran: Death Threats for Protesters
Khatami used Friday prayers to accuse the regime's opponents of 'rioting' in defiance of God's will.
Date filed: 28-06-2009
On the Conflict Between Reason and Science
Sam Harris and Philip Ball discuss.
Date filed: 27-06-2009
Does God Hate Gun Control?
You better believe it.
Date filed: 27-06-2009
Sri Lanka: Astrologer Arrested
He predicted that the president will be ejected from office, police say.
Date filed: 27-06-2009
The Ravings and Gibberings of Khamenei
Iran has a culture of rumour and paranoia that attributes all ills to the manipulation of various satans.
Date filed: 27-06-2009
The Horror of 'Witch' Hunts in Kenya
Beware - BBC not kidding about the horror.
Date filed: 27-06-2009
Jordanian Poet Imprisoned for 'Ridiculing Islam'
A campaign led by the Muslim Brotherhood and Jordanian Mufti accused him of blasphemy.
Date filed: 26-06-2009
Why the Mullahs Fight Amongst Themselves
Because interpreting the putative word of God is tricky.
Date filed: 26-06-2009
The Burka is a Symbol of Female Subservience
The freedom to opt for subservience runs counter to other liberties regarded as more important.
Date filed: 26-06-2009
Somalia: Crowd Watches Amputations
Four men had a hand and foot cut off after being convicted of stealing by a Sharia court.
Date filed: 26-06-2009
God and Science Don't Mix
It is simply honest to point out the inconsistency of belief in an activist god with modern science.
Date filed: 26-06-2009
Ireland: Congregations Must Open the Books
The congregations have agreed to contribute to a trust for former inmates of the institutions.
Date filed: 25-06-2009
On the Burqa
Taj Hargey says 'The French president should be applauded for initiating this debate.'
Date filed: 25-06-2009
Iran Like a War Zone
One woman told CNN that men armed with clubs emerged from a mosque and beat people savagely.
Date filed: 25-06-2009
Iran: Authorities Torment Family of Neda Soltan
They were forced to move, the police kept her body, her funeral was cancelled, mourning was forbidden.
Date filed: 25-06-2009
New Atheist Says Religion Can't Be Replaced
Commenters say how dare you, Andrew Brown has a good laugh; all very amusing.
Date filed: 25-06-2009
Iranian Government Says It's a Foreign Plot
It's the BBC, Voice of America, Zionists and non-Zionists, the UN, the G-8, foreign powers, terrorists...
Date filed: 24-06-2009
Iranians Killed or Detained Since 12 June
The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran gives an annotated list.
Date filed: 24-06-2009
Massoumeh Torfeh: How Iran Betrayed its Young
Their aim in killing a young girl is clear: to frighten other girls away from coming to the streets.
Date filed: 24-06-2009
The Prince's Thinking is Depressingly Woolly
Reith lecture a muddle of scientific reasoning, appeals to "instinctive, heart-felt awareness", and bunkum about God's will.
Date filed: 24-06-2009
Science and Religion are Not Compatible
They reach incompatible conclusions. This incompatibility is evident to any fair-minded person who looks.
Date filed: 23-06-2009
Jesus and Mo Are Running Out of Space
There may soon be no more room for God in the universe. What to do?
Date filed: 23-06-2009
A Problem of Liberty and Women's Dignity
Critics warned that the government risks stigmatising Muslims over a minor and marginal issue.
Date filed: 23-06-2009
Sarkozy on Religious Misogyny
"The burka is not a sign of religion, it is a sign of subservience," he told lawmakers.
Date filed: 23-06-2009
Maryam Namazie on Neda Agha-Soltan
She wanted freedom for everyone.
Date filed: 23-06-2009
Segregation Lives on in Rural Georgia
In a handful of Southern towns, parents still insist on whites-only proms which blacks are not allowed to attend.
Date filed: 23-06-2009
Defectors Spill the Beans About Scientology
Physical violence permeated the international management team. Staffers are made to 'confess sins.'
Date filed: 22-06-2009
Iran Setting Up Special Court for Protesters
A judiciary official says tribunals will process hundreds of 'rioters' and 'thugs' caught in security sweeps.
Date filed: 22-06-2009
Christian Brother Jailed for Orphanage Abuse
The judge said that as a ward of the state, there was no one the victim could turn to for help.
Date filed: 22-06-2009
Resisting Templeton
Daniel Dennett and Anthony Grayling decline to participate in a Templeton programme.
Date filed: 22-06-2009
H E Baber on Whether Religion is Replaceable
What once was religion has already been parcelled out to a variety of different institutions and agents.
Date filed: 22-06-2009
Jonathan Derbyshire: How the Left Lost its Language
We ought to return to the arguments over the weight we accord liberty and equality.
Date filed: 21-06-2009
C of E Pitching a Fit at the Beeb
Wants to know why the BBC is not a wholly owned subsidiary of the Anglican church.
Date filed: 21-06-2009
The Philosophy of Jokes
What is it to find something funny? What kind of thing is humour? How do we explain it?
Date filed: 21-06-2009
The Tension Between Theocracy and Democracy
God’s will and the people’s wants are not always compatible.
Date filed: 21-06-2009
Jean Kazez on Metaphors and Book Titles
God: A Biography - what, God was born in Brooklyn? Walking with God - what's next, going to the movies with God?
Date filed: 21-06-2009
Witchcraft Not Compatible With Catholicism
They wear such funny clothes, and there are all those candles and incantations - it just won't do.
Date filed: 20-06-2009
The God-given Right to Bad-mouth Queers
The bill could ban Christians voicing traditional views on sexuality! Except that it couldn't.
Date filed: 20-06-2009
Mick Hume on Liberty in the Age of Terror
Chastises Grayling for looking to written constitutions to protect rights.
Date filed: 20-06-2009
Jesus and Mo on the Dunning-Kruger Effect
Incompetent people aren't competent to see that they are incompetent.
Date filed: 19-06-2009
Justice Eady Strikes Again
Rules that bloggers have no right to remain anonymous.
Date filed: 19-06-2009
This Is Ben Goldacre's Column on Drugs
In areas of political conflict people behave badly with evidence, so the war on drugs is reliably entertaining.
Date filed: 19-06-2009
Ben Goldacre Looks at the Numbers
He asked what steps they took to notify journalists of their error, which exaggerated their findings by a factor of ten.
Date filed: 19-06-2009
Iran's Rural Vote and Election Fraud
Is Ahmadinejad’s support base rural? Not if Bagh-e Iman is representative.
Date filed: 19-06-2009
Sympathy for the Snookered
None for people who know better.
Date filed: 18-06-2009
Michael Ruse at the Creation Museum
He has an epiphany, because he is not one of those horrid new atheists.
Date filed: 18-06-2009
Michael Ruse Drops Jerry Coyne a Line
'I don’t know who does more damage, you and your kind or Phillip Johnson and his kind.'
Date filed: 18-06-2009
Islamist Meeting Ejected Over Sex Segregation
Ordered to leave Conway Hall when it emerged that Al-Muhajiroun were not letting women into the main hall.
Date filed: 18-06-2009
Imprisoned by Light Sensors
'Religious code' bans electricity on the Sabbath, so they are helpless. It's tragic.
Date filed: 17-06-2009
Jesus and Mo Find the Barmaid Too Shrill
She plans to hire a voice coach.
Date filed: 17-06-2009
Turn Off That Light!
Motion sensors turn on lights in hallway, so Orthodox couple are imprisoned in their flat over the sabbath.
Date filed: 17-06-2009
Russell Blackford: There is Only One World
There is no good reason to think a 'transcendent world' exists, or that religion can inform us about one.
Date filed: 17-06-2009
Jerry Coyne on Science v Theism
Offering a god of the gaps promotes public confusion about what science does and does not tell us about the universe.
Date filed: 17-06-2009
Improbable Science on Charles's Foundation
A one-sided affair devoted to misrepresentation of evidence and the promotion of magic medicine.
Date filed: 16-06-2009
Toadying and Sycophancy
The greatest exponent of alternative medicine is the future monarch. A little royal patronage can be powerful.
Date filed: 16-06-2009
Chiropractors Told to Take Down Their Websites
Because of a 'witch hunt against chiropractors...if you have a website, take it down NOW.'
Date filed: 16-06-2009
It's Not Religion, I Tell You!
Just because people say it's religion when they kill you, that doesn't make it so!
Date filed: 16-06-2009
Bunting on the Woman Who Hates God
'The kind of strident atheism which Benson epitomises intrigues me. It's driven by a curious intensity...'
Date filed: 16-06-2009
The Real 'Islamophobia'
The explosion rocked the complex, which includes a mosque, library, classrooms, offices and student accommodation.
Date filed: 15-06-2009
Nick Cohen on the Holocaust Museum Killer
He hated Bill O’Reilly of Fox News and neocons as much as the New York Times and Obama.
Date filed: 15-06-2009
Homeopathy Awareness: Gloria Thomas
Judge ruled most of the pictures cannot be made public, because they are too horrible.
Date filed: 15-06-2009
Homeopathy Awareness Week
Homeopaths have been promoting homeopathic sugar pills to treat or prevent malaria and HIV in Africa.
Date filed: 15-06-2009
Stephen Jay Gould and the Politics of Evolution
PZ Myers reviews a new book on the subject.
Date filed: 15-06-2009
Who Goes to a Creationist Museum?
No prizes for the answer.
Date filed: 14-06-2009
All Serious Historians Line Up
To agree with James Hallam on science and religion.
Date filed: 14-06-2009
Russell Blackford on NOMA
Neither science nor religion can decide what the ultimate point of morality should be.
Date filed: 14-06-2009
Does Religion Have Special Epistemic Authority?
Are there questions that science can't answer while religion can? Well, what do you mean by 'answer'?
Date filed: 14-06-2009
Cardinal Uninspired by Blair Faith Foundation
Blair thinks religious 'leaders' should rethink gay rights, but Catholic thinking is 'rather different.' Yes.
Date filed: 14-06-2009
Another Uppity Woman on God v Women
She never understood why her kick-ass grandmother accepted Greek Orthodox dogma about women being second class humans.
Date filed: 14-06-2009
Ex-fundamentalist: God Does Hate Women
Religious circles just aren’t friendly to a woman who thinks herself an equal.
Date filed: 13-06-2009
Jesus and Mo on TheTonyBlairFaithFoundation
The idea must be to pretend we all agree on the basics.
Date filed: 13-06-2009
John Gray Lies Down With Dogs, Gets Up With
fleas. New atheism, intolerant, utopianism, scientism, bodies, Nazism, positivism, liberals, dogma, faith.
Date filed: 13-06-2009
Caspar Melville on the Orthodoxy of Offence
Restitution via alternative epistemologies and patrolling the borders of acceptable speech.
Date filed: 13-06-2009
Prince Abusing His Power Again
Used his connections to block a building project that's not to his taste.
Date filed: 13-06-2009
Homeopathy is Cheap but Useless
British scientists ask WHO to condemn homeopathy for serious diseases such as HIV, TB and malaria.
Date filed: 13-06-2009
Tom Stern Visits the Creation Museum
Some 'science is like religion' stuff but interesting all the same.
Date filed: 13-06-2009
NHS Spent £12 Million in 3 Years on Homeopathy
Dr Peter Fisher of the Royal London Homeopathic hospital said there is an issue of democracy.
Date filed: 12-06-2009
Night Waves on Whether God Hates Women
Madeleine Bunting calls DGHW strident and shrill, Humera Khan defends patriarchy. (c. 23 minutes in)
Date filed: 12-06-2009
Jason Rosenhouse on Methodological Naturalism
The problem comes when you try to make MN into a rule that now and forever defines what science is.
Date filed: 12-06-2009
Coyne on Mooney and Testing the Supernatural
Clearly some claims about the supernatural can be tested (and rejected) by science.
Date filed: 12-06-2009
Theistic Evolutionist Beats Hasty Retreat
Ken Miller's first and only defense seems to be a denial of most of the implications of an interventionist deity.
Date filed: 12-06-2009
Bishops Met to Discuss Fallout from Ryan Report
Said it would be wrong to remove religious orders from the managing of schools.
Date filed: 11-06-2009
Irish Abuse Victims March
'It was as if you were inside prison and you don't talk about it. You didn't dare speak out against a religious order.'
Date filed: 11-06-2009
Cardinal Declined to Meet With Angry Survivors
We would have loved to, but we had to attend a meeting.
Date filed: 11-06-2009
Alternative 'Medicine' Goes Mainstream
An underground medical system with millions of people using it on blind faith.
Date filed: 10-06-2009
Dublin: Solidarity March for Abuse Victims
The scandal of the abuse was described as Ireland's mini holocaust by several campaigners today.
Date filed: 10-06-2009
More Emetic 'Faith' Blather from Blair
'Faith matters. Even if you are not of religious faith yourself.' Heavy, dude.
Date filed: 10-06-2009
Blair Thinks 'Religious Literacy' Will Help
Dialogue, different faiths, understanding, peace, Islamophobia, communities, deeper, beliefs.
Date filed: 10-06-2009
Blair Begins 'School Faith Scheme'
'Tony Blair Faith Foundation's Face To Faith project' does God with a vengeance.
Date filed: 10-06-2009
MHRA Licences Homeopathic 'Therapy'
Pills are labelled 'a homoeopathic medicinal product used with the homoeopathic tradition.'
Date filed: 10-06-2009
Hitchens on Obama in Cairo
Does the president think that the veil and the burqa are also freely chosen fashion statements?
Date filed: 10-06-2009
Malaysia: Islamists v Sisters in Islam
Sisters in Islam should be investigated and declared 'haram' if it is found to be anti-Islam.
Date filed: 10-06-2009
Baptist Pastor Offers 'Imprecatory Prayers'
Wiley Drake is asking the deity to kill Obama.
Date filed: 10-06-2009
BNP Leader Pelted With Eggs
Number of people voting BNP went up slightly, with the party benefitting from collapse in Labour vote.
Date filed: 09-06-2009
Align Those Chakras
A visit to the Mind, Body, Spirit Festival: strapped in for some top-shelf bullshit.
Date filed: 09-06-2009
Islamist 'Justice' in Kismayo
Hundreds of people flocked to Freedom Park to see a man's hand chopped off.
Date filed: 09-06-2009
Somalia: al-Shabab Destroying Graves
Sufi Muslims embrace music, dancing and meditation and are appalled at desecration of graves.
Date filed: 09-06-2009
Save the Salinger Archives
It seems possible he could be typing out the Bhagavad Gita in Sanskrit over and over again.
Date filed: 09-06-2009
Man Jailed for 'Honour' Killing of Sister
Hasibullah Sadiqi gunned down his sister Khatera and her fiancé Feroz Mangal.
Date filed: 09-06-2009
Bullying the Special Rapporteur
The SR for the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression must shut up or else.
Date filed: 08-06-2009
Catholic Church Lectures Gays on Child Abuse
Well they are the experts.
Date filed: 08-06-2009
OIC to Special Rapporteur: Watch Your Mouth
He said restrictions on free speech should never be used to protect beliefs, including religious ones. Horrors!
Date filed: 08-06-2009
Muriel Gray on Obama's Speech
Surely the boldest way forward is to tell the uncomfortable truth instead of obsequious fawning.
Date filed: 08-06-2009
Catholic Theologian Reacts to Ryan Report
Suggested part of the problem came from the church’s failure to develop a self-critical, thinking Christianity.
Date filed: 08-06-2009
Pope Briefed on Ryan Report
Listened carefully to what archbishop and cardinal said. Suggested 'deep soul-searching.'
Date filed: 08-06-2009
It's Men Who Hate Women, Not God
Yes...the title is metaphoric.
Date filed: 07-06-2009
Obama in Cairo: The Religionizing of Politics
Those who live in Muslim-majority countries seem not to be citizens or Asians or Arabs or Africans but simply 'Muslims.'
Date filed: 07-06-2009
Jesus and Mo Listen to Bill Donohue
On the Ryan report as anti-Catholic propaganda and the benefits of being whipped by nuns.
Date filed: 06-06-2009
Orwell and His Contradictions
In truth, Orwell was wrong about all sorts of things, not least the inner logic of totalitarianism.
Date filed: 06-06-2009
Mark Oppenheimer on George Scialabba
Scialabba has the time, freedom, and passion of the amateur, and the perspicacity of the pro.
Date filed: 06-06-2009
Bad Astronomy on Lethal Homeopathy
Antivaxxers’ work, belief in homeopathy, denying science-based medicine will result in more babies dying.
Date filed: 06-06-2009
Homeopathy Killed a Baby
Her parents treated her eczema with homeopathic 'remedies' instead of 'conventional' medicine.
Date filed: 06-06-2009
Virtual Lecture at Second Life on Saturday
Stephen Law presenting a lecture and Q&A about The War for Children's Minds at The Open Habitat Project.
Date filed: 06-06-2009
Bad Astronomy on Simon Singh
If you call someone on the carpet for making fallacious claims, they can basically shut you up by suing you.
Date filed: 05-06-2009
Simon Singh Will Appeal the Judgement
Singh criticised BCA for claiming spinal manipulation can treat children with colic, ear infections, asthma.
Date filed: 05-06-2009
Support for Simon Singh is Growing
English libel law has no place in disputes about evidence. BCA should discuss evidence outside a courtroom.
Date filed: 05-06-2009
Support Simon Singh
If he loses, it will be serious for freedom of speech, not only in Britain but throughout the world.
Date filed: 05-06-2009
Jason Rosenhouse on Accommodationism
If a review in TNR is too much for liberal Christians, what could Coyne have done to mollify them?
Date filed: 05-06-2009
Joe Hoffmann on Paul Kurtz
'The idea that the world was “going” secular had failed to take into account religion’s unique ability to go humanistic.'
Date filed: 05-06-2009
Paul Kurtz Ousted as Chairman of CFI
Like other nonprofits, the Center for Inquiry is ultimately governed by a board of directors.
Date filed: 05-06-2009
Simon Singh: the Story so Far
The article was about an issue of public interest: childhood health and the effectiveness of particular treatments.
Date filed: 04-06-2009
Nailing English Libel Law
Simon Singh's supporters spoke out against BCA suit against an individual with no financial support.
Date filed: 04-06-2009
Chris Mooney on Learning the Lessons of Katrina
Anything that encourages hurricane complacency—including predictions of mild weather—is itself a danger.
Date filed: 04-06-2009
Tariq Ramadan Issues Instructions to Obama
Must be humble. Islam great civilization. True and deep respect. America should be ready to learn from Islam.
Date filed: 04-06-2009
Anthroposophical Doctors and State Funding
What do Anthroposophical doctors such as Dr Gruenewald do in Anthroposophical schools?
Date filed: 03-06-2009
Goldacre on Dodgy Academic PR
We have communicated to newspapers that we want them to be large and cheap rather than adequately researched.
Date filed: 03-06-2009
Ben Goldacre on Man Flu and Other 'News'
People are interested in finding out about medical news, yet they are routinely fed nonsense by the media.
Date filed: 03-06-2009
The Roots of Intelligent Design
The argument is one thing, the ID movement is another.
Date filed: 03-06-2009
Chris Mooney Explains
'I don’t see what is to be gained by flailing indiscriminately against religion.' That clears that up.
Date filed: 03-06-2009
Jerry Coyne on Mooney and Accommodationism
The reconciliation of science and faith almost always dilutes science, especially evolution.
Date filed: 03-06-2009
Girls Pressured to Wear Hijab at Oslo School
The assistant principal at the school obviously doesn’t understand what values hijab represents.
Date filed: 02-06-2009
Jerry Coyne on Dennis Overbye on Faith vs Science
Why should wisdom and comfort inhabit a clerical collar instead of a lab coat?
Date filed: 02-06-2009
Catholics See Opportunity to Make Voices Heard
All not well in UK moral life; Catholic church just the ticket to fix that.
Date filed: 02-06-2009
Anti-abortion and Violence in the US
US debate has been framed as defending the defenceless, which can seem to justify violence.
Date filed: 02-06-2009
Rules Clarification Now Available
The Islamic Hotline has good news for British Muslims - keeping the laws of Islam is not as difficult as you thought.
Date filed: 02-06-2009
Religious Schools and Equality
NSS says choice for non-religious parents should be specifically taken into account when opening schools.
Date filed: 02-06-2009
Blackford on Plantinga and the Concept of Hatred
Easy accusations of hatred are irresponsible, at best.
Date filed: 01-06-2009
Andrew Brown on Abortion and Murder
A civilised society cannot contain people who really believe that abortion is murder.
Date filed: 01-06-2009
Who Killed George Tiller?
The 'pro-life' movement is disturbed and dangerous.
Date filed: 01-06-2009
Philippe Sands on 'C' at the Hay Festival
C was as open as could be hoped for in responding to questions that pushed and prised and cajoled.
Date filed: 01-06-2009
Suspect Identified in Killing of Abortion Doctor
'To call this a crime is too simplistic,' says editor of Prayer and Action News. 'There is Christian scripture that would support this.'
Date filed: 01-06-2009
Roxana Saberi Talks to NPR
'Many of those women were there because they are standing up for human rights or the freedom of belief or expression.'
Date filed: 31-05-2009
Ireland: Abusers Should Turn Themselves In
'If they have any conscience they should come forward now,' Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said.
Date filed: 31-05-2009
Nick Cohen on Silencing Simon Singh
The consequences of letting the libel law loose on scientific debate are horrendous.
Date filed: 31-05-2009
Does God Hate Women?
Do women hate God?
Date filed: 31-05-2009
Book on Religious Misogyny Could Annoy People
Cherie Blair, for instance.
Date filed: 31-05-2009
Woman Enslaved Her Daughters-in-law
'It's acceptable to treat women like this in other countries but not in our country, in England no.'
Date filed: 30-05-2009
Varieties of Accommodationism
Russell Blackford offers a typology: NOMA; natural and supernatural; god of the gaps.
Date filed: 30-05-2009
Jerry Coyne on Mixing Science With God
Accepting the existence of magic is not good science.
Date filed: 30-05-2009
Pakistan's Madrasas Under Scrutiny - Sort Of
Until the military decides that the madrasas are no longer useful, meaningful reform is unlikely.
Date filed: 30-05-2009
Religious Partisanship and the Taoiseach
If critics of the indemnity deal are 'anti-Catholic' then supporters are pro-Catholic. Is that Ahern's position?
Date filed: 30-05-2009
Judge Refuses to Dismiss Prayer Day Lawsuit
Obama admin and National Day of Prayer Task Force filed motions to dismiss; judge rejected them as premature.
Date filed: 30-05-2009
Nick Cohen on the Golden Age of Conspiracy
An ecumenical conspiracy theorist would rather believe that 2 + 2 = 5 than ever trust an official report.
Date filed: 29-05-2009
More Smug Banal Tripe From Mark Vernon
Dawkins, theology, respectable, sophisticated, subtle, scientistic, genes, machines, longings.
Date filed: 29-05-2009
Vatican: Abortion Worse Than Child Torture
'What happened in some schools cannot be compared with the millions of lives that have been destroyed by abortion.'
Date filed: 29-05-2009
You Have Got to Be Kidding
Face of Jesus in lid of Marmite jar. What?! That's a face?!
Date filed: 29-05-2009
Last Rites for the Catholic Church in Ireland
The Fianna Fáil Government and the religious orders struck a scandalously rotten deal in 2002.
Date filed: 29-05-2009
Total Ban on Abortion Violates Human Rights
UN Committee against Torture calls criminalisation of all abortion in Nicaragua a violation of human rights.
Date filed: 28-05-2009
Global Crisis Exacerbating Human Rights Abuses
Amnesty International says the downturn has distracted attention from abuses and created new problems.
Date filed: 28-05-2009
The Quackometer on Libel Law
English libel law can be easily used to silence criticism.
Date filed: 27-05-2009
UK Student Atheist Societies Get Threats
Religious groups are increasingly demanding immunity from having their ideas discussed.
Date filed: 27-05-2009
Turkish Author Says Novel is not 'Blasphemous'
The author is on trial in Istanbul for 'inciting religious hatred.'
Date filed: 27-05-2009
Taoiseach Calls on Religious Orders to Pay More
The Ryan commission found much more abuse than was previously known or accepted by the orders.
Date filed: 27-05-2009
The Religious Orders in Ireland Love Money
They got large sums from the State for the children in their care, and spent some of it on other things.
Date filed: 27-05-2009
Religious Orders Defy Call to Pay More
18 congregations defied calls from Cardinal Brady to be more generous with those who suffered abuse.
Date filed: 26-05-2009
Padraig Ready on Free Speech, Libel, Blogging
It must be bad for democracy when an MP – or anyone else – cannot speculate on the motives of the rich and powerful.
Date filed: 26-05-2009
AC Grayling on Enthusiasm for Science
Talks by Martin Rees and Steve Jones at Hay drew huge audiences and intelligent questions.
Date filed: 26-05-2009
Row Over Abuse Fund Gets Worse
'If the thing is much worse than they admitted to at that stage, then they have to look at the consequences.'
Date filed: 26-05-2009
Worst Scandal in the History of the Irish Church
Archbishop Martin says that if necessary the congregations should 'beggar' themselves.
Date filed: 26-05-2009
The Pope Forgives Molested Children
'What kind of a message is the pope sending today's children? That it's okay to seduce priests?'
Date filed: 25-05-2009
Ireland: Congregations Say No Renegotiation
This despite increasing public pressure and a call by Cardinal Seán Brady that the deal should be revisited.
Date filed: 25-05-2009
France: Scientology on Trial for Organized Fraud
'The church, which is fighting the charges, denies that any mental manipulation took place.'
Date filed: 25-05-2009
Halachically Sound In Vitro Fertilization
You need a Puah supervisor, and a Puanite box, and be sure to observe the nidda rules.
Date filed: 25-05-2009
Incompetent Nurse Fired Over Church Advice
Gave religious instead of medical advice; Christian Legal Centre considering a lawsuit.
Date filed: 25-05-2009
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