Sabah leaders call for apology from Umno man’s remarks on Christianity

Sabah leaders have urged Sepang Umno chief Noorazli Said to apologise for his offensive joke about christianity at the Umno general assembly.

Datuk Arthur Kurup criticised Noorazli's comments as inappropriate and highlighted the importance of respecting religious beliefs in politics.

Datuk Wilfred Madius Tangau demanded a public apology and withdrawal of the Psalm 129 reference, emphasising that religious content should not be trivialised.

KOTA KINABALU, Sept 14 — Two Sabah leaders have called on Sepang Umno chief Datuk Noorazli Said to apologise over his controversial remarks concerning christianity and the Bible at the recent Umno general assembly.

Tenom MP Datuk Arthur Kurup said Noorazli’s remarks were “highly inappropriate” and did not reflect the maturity expected of a political leader, while Tuaran MP and Tamparuli assemblyman Datuk Wilfred Madius Tangau described the joke as “grossly inappropriate and offensive”.

Kurup, in a statement, said political differences did not give anyone the licence to make light of another person’s religion and beliefs for the sake of laughter or applause.

“Malaysia was built on the foundations of a multi-racial and multi-religious society. After more than six decades of living together as a nation, it is deeply disappointing that there are still leaders who choose to turn religion into material for political jokes.

“Politics has its limits, freedom of speech comes with responsibility, and religion is not something to be made light of,” he said.

Kurup also reminded political leaders that matters involving the 3Rs — race, religion and the royal institution — should not be touched on indiscriminately.

He said Barisan Nasional, of which Umno is a component party, was founded on principles of unity, stability and solidarity among Malaysians of different races and religions.

“We cannot speak about unity at one moment while, at another, allowing the religion of others to be turned into material for political jokes.

“We must uphold this principle consistently, not only when it benefits us,” said the BN Sabah chairman.

Tangau, meanwhile, called on Noorazli to apologise to the Catholic community over the remarks.

“Sacred Scripture, Catholic priests and religious sisters should not be sexualised or ridiculed from the stage of a major national political party,” Tangau said in a Facebook post.

He also urged Noorazli to acknowledge his “poor judgment”, withdraw the reference to Psalm 129 and offer an “unqualified public apology” to the Catholic and wider Christian community.

The controversy arose after Noorazli made a joke at the Umno general assembly on Saturday involving a priest and a nun, with its punchline attributed to Psalm 129 in the Bible.

However, the purported passage does not appear in Psalm 129.

In a Facebook post following the criticism, Noorazli said the point he was trying to convey through the joke was the importance of focus, perseverance and wisdom in achieving one's goals.

“It was never meant to insult, belittle, or demean anyone or a religion,” he said.

He said the joke was intended as an analogy and that the episode had taught him to be more cautious when using analogies in future.

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沙巴州领导人敦促雪邦巫统主席诺拉兹里·赛义德就其在巫统大会上发表的关于基督教的冒犯性笑话道歉。

拿督亚瑟·库鲁普批评努拉兹利的言论不恰当，并强调了在政治中尊重宗教信仰的重要性。

拿督威尔弗雷德·马迪乌斯·唐高要求公开道歉并撤回对《诗篇》第 129 篇的引用，强调宗教内容不应被轻视。

哥打基纳巴卢，9月14日讯——两名沙巴州领导人呼吁雪邦巫统主席拿督诺拉兹利·赛义德就其在最近巫统大会上发表的有关基督教和《圣经》的争议性言论道歉。

Tenom国会议员拿督Arthur Kurup表示，Noorazli的言论“非常不恰当”，没有体现出政治领袖应有的成熟度；而Tuaran国会议员兼Tamparuli州议员拿督Wilfred Madius Tangau则称这个玩笑“极其不恰当且冒犯”。

库鲁普在一份声明中表示，政治分歧并不能成为任何人为了博取笑声或掌声而轻视他人宗教和信仰的理由。

“马来西亚建立在多种族、多宗教社会的基础之上。作为一个国家共同生活了六十多年之后，仍然有一些领导人选择将宗教当作政治笑料，这令人深感失望。”

他说：“政治有其局限性，言论自由伴随着责任，宗教不容轻视。”

库鲁普还提醒政治领导人，涉及种族、宗教和王室制度这三个方面的问题不应随意触碰。

他表示，国民阵线（巫统是其成员党之一）的成立原则是马来西亚不同种族和宗教的人民团结、稳定和互助。

“我们不能一方面谈论团结，另一方面又允许将他人的宗教当作政治笑话的素材。

“我们必须始终如一地坚持这一原则，而不仅仅是在对我们有利的时候才坚持，”国阵沙巴主席说道。

与此同时，唐高呼吁努拉兹利就其言论向天主教社群道歉。

“圣经、天主教神父和修女不应该在主要国家政党的舞台上被性化或嘲笑，”唐高在脸书上发帖说。

他还敦促努拉兹利承认自己的“判断失误”，撤回对诗篇 129 的引用，并向天主教徒和更广泛的基督教社群做出“毫无保留的公开道歉”。

这场争议源于诺拉兹利周六在巫统大会上开的一个关于神父和修女的玩笑，其笑点出自《圣经》诗篇129篇。

然而，这段所谓的经文并没有出现在诗篇 129 篇中。

在受到批评后，努拉兹利在 Facebook 上发帖称，他想通过这个玩笑表达的观点是，专注、毅力和智慧对于实现目标的重要性。

他说：“这绝非意在侮辱、贬低或羞辱任何人或任何宗教。”

他说，这个玩笑意在打比方，这件事让他明白以后在使用比方时要更加谨慎。

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