First, comedian Norm Macdonald frustrated atheists and now he's disappointing religious adherents. Following his highly-publicized Twitter spat with non-believers over the weekend -- a dialogue during which the former "Saturday Night Live" cast member said that he studies Biblical scriptures and believes in God -- the entertainer now is backtracking.

Former "Saturday Night Live" star Norm Macdonald (Credit: AP)

Here's how Twitchy explains Macdonald's new-found apology which apparently includes a pledge, in the future, to stay away from controversial subjects like religion:

As Twitchy reported, “Saturday Night Live” alumnus Norm Macdonald deleted a series of tweets on religion and faith after atheists piled on, informing him that “religion is the worst thing to ever happen to this planet.” We were disappointed to see the tweets disappear in a flood of intolerance, and now Macdonald has said he’ll stick to “jokes and golf.” Macdonald is a comedian, and we hope he’s just kidding about censoring himself to appease the tolerance bullies.

On Monday, the comic returned to Twitter, where he explicitly addressed the controversy that unfolded the day before.

"I believe in the separation of church and comedy. Religious comics bore me. Athiest comics bore me," he wrote. "I am completely apolitical and am Canadian and support neither party."

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And he wasn't done there. MacDonald went on to describe his belief in God as something that isn't always definitive.

"If you want to know if I believe in God, sometimes I do and sometimes I do not. Such is Faith," he tweeted.

Later he also clarified that he doesn't necessarily believe scripture, but that he studies the Bible. While he sometimes embraces its teachings, other times the comedian apparently doesn't.

"Faith is a choice one makes, like everything else," he added.

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But the message that probably seemed the most surprising to the Christians and religious individuals who initially supported him was the tweet that followed -- an apology for discussing faith on the social media platform.

In it, he said that he didn't intend to make people angry by discussing his scripture studies and he pledged to leave the subject out of Twitter in the future, sticking instead to "jokes and golf."

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Macdonald concluded his Twitter explanation by noting that he wasn't apologizing for making his statements, but that, instead, he said he was sorry "for what people think" he said (a confusing explanation, to a degree). Some will dismiss this as an atheist victory in shutting the entertainer down, while others will see it merely as a clarification that provides deeper meaning to what was originally intended.

He also noted, "I delete almost everything I post, as you know," clearly referencing questions surrounding why he removed his faith-based posts that ignited the original controversy.

So, for now, it looks like it's strictly golf and comedy for Macdonald.

(H/T: Twitchy)

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