http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/justine-toh/ Justine Toh is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Public Christianity and an Honorary Associate of the Department of Media, Music and Cultural Studies at Macquarie University. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/we-need-more-religion-but-we-dont-need-its-zeal/ “Religion has wrought untold misery in human affairs. For the most part, it has been a squalid tale of bigotry, superstition, wishful thinking, and oppressive ideology.” This damning indictment of religion, surprisingly enough, is not to be found in the work of the late Christopher Hitchens, or that of his compatriots Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and Daniel Dennett. Rather, it prefaces Terry Eagleton’s book Reason, Faith, and Revolution: Reflections on the God Debate in which he skewers both the Church as well as its most hard-heated critics - the New Atheists. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Justine Toh) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/we-need-more-religion-but-we-dont-need-its-zeal/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/we-need-more-religion-but-we-dont-need-its-zeal/#item8267 Thu, 19 Apr 2012 19:40:28 +0000 Justine Toh | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/A-solo-Christmas-is-not-necessarily-a-sad-thing/ Given the season of excess that is Christmas, the event seems strangely downsized lately. Many of us bumped Christ a long time ago, whose birthday the event celebrates, in favour of a definition of Christmas that’s less about God and more about making merry with family. Now that tradition might also be on the wane with some ditching the family bash, in case they’re tempted to bash up the rellies, in favour of a get-together with like-minded people they actually like. Then there are those, like Young Jean Lee, who just want to spend Christmas alone. Lee, a subversive New York playwright, last year released her own carol singing the praises of a solo Christmas. In it, she enjoys her festive season minus disappointed family, egocentric friends, impossible standards, tension and yelling. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Justine Toh) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/A-solo-Christmas-is-not-necessarily-a-sad-thing/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/A-solo-Christmas-is-not-necessarily-a-sad-thing/#item7440 Fri, 23 Dec 2011 19:55:14 +0000 Justine Toh | Author bios | The Punch