Catholic Bishop Dr Paul Tan Chee Ing said the remarks made by former Selangor menteri besar Muhammad Muhammad Taib that Christians have done more killing in their time than the Muslims is “the sort of statement one would expect from a wild-eyed radical living in Timbuktu rather than a member of a responsible political party.”

NONE The head of the Catholic Church in the Malacca-Johor diocese was commenting on remarks attributed to the newly-joined PAS member who reportedly gave vent to anti-Jew and anti-Christian sentiments at a ceramah in Selangor earlier this week.

In the course of remarks voiced in apparent regret that Islam has been misconstrued to be a militant religion, Muhammad said the misperception was the work of Jews and Caucasians who harboured evil intent against a peaceful religion.  

Muhammad then lurched into a comparison of the track records of Christians and Muslims wherein he claimed that Christians have done more killing than Muslims.

Patent nonsense

Bishop Paul said Muhammad’s remarks were “fantastic and shocking in their ignorance” and he could not conceive how a man of the former MB’s stature could spout “such patent nonsense.”

“Obviously, history is not his strong suit and he might have been quoted out of turn, but if he did indeed say what he has been quoted as having said, then the remarks must be repudiated by responsible leaders of his party simply because they reflect so poorly on their intellect,” opined the prelate.

Bishop Paul said these days “people of goodwill refrain from comparing the records of the various religions because to do so risks judging a religion on the conduct of its less worthy members and this is something the well-intentioned studiously avoid.”

“From that salutary restraint the impulse to engagement and dialogue arises and that, in turn, promotes inter-religious harmony and goodwill,” reasoned the Jesuit-trained prelate.

“The man who made these remarks would be a misfit in any entity purporting to work for change in Malaysia,” he said.