Wow!  Just when you thought you’d seen it all, the story of Newtown Lutheran Pastor, Rob Morris apologizing for attending the inter-faith ceremony to honor the victims, surfaces.  That’s correct.  He was ordered to do so by Pastor Matthew C Harrison, president of the Lutheran Synod or church council.  Harrison wrote and posted an open letter on line that stated, “I could draw no conclusion other than that this was a step beyond the bounds of practice allowed by the Scriptures.  There is sometimes a real tension between wanting to bear witness to Christ and at the same time avoiding situations which may give the impression that our differences with respect to who God is, who Jesus is, how he deals with us, and how we get to heaven, really don’t matter in the end.”  Harrison then asked Pastor Morris for an apology.  He claimed that Pastor Morris by his participation, was endorsing “false teachings”.  A day later, Pastor Morris complied, issuing the following statement, also online, “To those who believe that I have endorsed false teaching, I assure you that was not my intent, and I give you my unreserved apologies. I apologize where I have caused offense by pushing Christian freedom too far, and I request you charitably receive my apology.”  In the same letter however, he defended his decision to participate, saying it was, “not an act of joint worship, but an act of community chaplaincy.”  He continued, “I believe (and I fervently pray) that my ministry will never involve a parallel situation to the one that faced my congregation and community that weekend.”  What Pastor Harrison fails to recognize is that when a tragedy occurs like what took place that horrible day in Newtown Connecticut, people come together to share their grief, to comfort each other and to put aside their differences.  That’s what human beings do.  It’s what separates us from the animals.  It’s also the single greatest flaw of religion; that even in times of grieving, supposedly religious men like Harrison are more concerned about the Jewish child going to hell than about the evil person who caused such untold suffering.  Of course all that murderer has to do is believe what Harrison believes and he slips right through heaven’s gate, undetected.  What crap!  It’s the reason churches throughout the country are experiencing declining attendance.  People want to be lifted up and comforted, not told about all the things that make us different.  If they didn’t do that, the brainwashing and fear mongering would no longer be effective, hence the dwindling attendance.  It’s time to put some humanity into religion so that it’s relevent, otherwise religion will eventually fade away in this country, perhaps for the better.