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THIS is getting out of hand. Or should I say, out of a flipper-like wing? Penguins are being lifted off their little waddling feet and held aloft as shining examples of how people should lead a decent life.

Penguins may be models of upright social behaviour – in a biomechanical sense. But some members of the Christian right in the US are going much further. To them, penguins are not only upright but also the epitome of righteousness: loving, caring parents who form lifelong monogamous relationships. They see the bird’s arduous annual migration across the shifting ice floes of the…

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