YOURSAY | Not heartfelt apology from Zawawi over ‘distorted’ Bible remark

YOURSAY | ‘An apology where you insist you’re right is no apology at all.’

Pasir Puteh MP apologises over ‘distorted’ Bible remarks

Lone_star: Pasir Puteh parliamentarian Nik Muhammad Zawawi Salleh, it is best that before you utter anything, let your cerebral synapses work first.

"I apologise if anyone felt offended, it was not my intention. What I intended was I wanted to defend the original Bible revealed to Prophet Isa, without any changes," he told the Dewan Rakyat.

A qualified apology is not an apology. It just shows how arrogant one is.

Lamborghini: Zawawi's so-called apology is obviously insincere, not because he feels sorry for offending Christians but because of pressure from House speaker Azhar Azizan Harun.

In fact, he is adding salt to injury by his insincere apology.

1. "I apologise if anyone felt offended…"

All Christians and many others were offended. Not "if". And he was adamant not to apologise earlier even when many Christian groups demanded his apology.

2. "What I intended was I wanted to defend the original Bible revealed to Prophet Isa, without any changes."

When was the original Bible revealed to Prophet Isa? And who needs you to defend the "original Bible"?

3. Zawawi's apology was issued in response to an order by House speaker Azhar for the statement to be retracted and for him to apologise.

His "apology" is because of his fear of punishment by the House speaker. What a poor pitiful ignoble representative of his noble religion.

Xyz: An apology where you insisted you’re right is no apology at all. Christians follow the teachings of Jesus Christ as contained in the New Testament. That’s why they’re called Christians - the followers of Christ.

Who is Zawawi to insist that Christians must follow the Old Testament and who gives him the right to defend the old Bible which was written before the arrival of Christ?

His claim that the New Testament is a distortion of the old Bible is intended solely to belittle and attack the Christian religion. His apology is tantamount to saying “your beliefs are still wrong and I’m sorry if you feel offended”.

The House speaker should have rejected his “non-apology” and instructed him to issue a proper one without the qualifications and explanations.

TC Chan: Indeed, Zawawi is making it worse. The Old Testament is central to Judaism and the New Testament is all about Christ, his life and his teachings; and Christians accept the Old Testament as part of their faith.

I have never heard of the Bible being revealed to Jesus. Perhaps he can tell us which part was revealed.

MS: The PAS ulama council chief, obviously a summa cum laude from the Zakir Naik School of Incitement and Instigation, following the anger and scorn heaped on him has perhaps learned that he and his tribe have lost the monopoly on "taking offence".

He may now have realised, contrary to what he told the Association of Churches in Sarawak, that non-Muslims have every right to be offended, a right they will exercise... not like the murderous ones in France and Austria but with the restraint expected of civilised human beings.

God willing, he may now be inspired to preach to his flock, exhorting them to follow the civilised example of the many who were rightfully offended by his insensitivity born out of crass ignorance and ‘bodoh sombongness’.

OrangePony5652: When it takes PAS politician months to come out with an apology, it shows how insincere they are.

A simple mistake only needs to rectify within 24 hours unless PAS has seen the political profit is greater than saving its face.

MPJY: Zawawi has apologised. I think I like him to accept that the Bible he referred to is not my Bible. Perhaps we should accept his apology and end this matter.

Ubi-Wan Keledek: I wonder what the Muslims would feel if others make some similar remarks about their holy scripture.

You can't just keep demanding others to respect your religion and feelings when you are not doing the same to others. That's why it's called mutual respect.

People supporting PAS should think hard the next time they vote for politicians like Zawawi. And they are many like him.

Beman: Yes, the rule is really simple. If you do not want others to criticise your belief, you should refrain from talking negatively about others' beliefs.

Rainbow5: Our GPS system won't work if relativity did not get the relationship between velocity, gravity and time right. As mentioned above, relativity has been proven over and over again.

However, scientists are not as conceited as religious bigots to claim we know all there is to know. Just because something is called ‘law’ in science, it does not become the truth; or when something is called a ‘theory’, it means it is unproven.

These are people who know very little about science. Take Newton's law of motion or the Newtonian law of gravity. We know that they are just approximations to the theory of relativity. Just labelling something as law does not make it more truthful than a more accurate theory.

GrayPuffin9604: The premise of all religions is that it is based on belief and faith. There is no right or wrong belief.

And how does Zawawi know which text is original and which is not? He wasn't there when it was written.

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