Rob's Note - One year ago, the "Vermont Commons" devoted an entire issue of our newspaper (then a monthly publication), to an exploration of the events of 9/11. We featured Jim Hogue's interview with David Ray Griffin, a theologian, author, and scholar who was among the first to synthesize independent 9/11 research into not one but two books: "The New Pearl Harbor" and "The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions."

Now, Dr. Griffin has written a new book, and Jim Hogue reviews it here.

Christian Faith and the Truth Behind 9/11
by Dr. David Ray Griffin

Book Review by Jim Hogue

“Not every one that saith unto me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven.” St. Matthew. vii. 21.

In his Christian Faith and the Truth Behind 9/11, which he subtitles “A Call to Reflection and Action,” Dr. Griffin convincingly argues that Christians have a duty to follow the teachings of Jesus and, thereby, to act in the face of evil. The overwhelming evil to the earliest Christians was the Roman Empire. The overwhelming evil today is an empire even more expansive. As the Romans enslaved, slaughtered, over-taxed, and tortured (crucifixion was commonplace), the American Empire acts “so as to deprive people of adequate food, water, shelter, and minimal health care; . . . engage in murder, deceit, torture, oppression, and tyranny; . . .[and] deprive other peoples of their right to self-determination . . .”

Quoting Andrew J. Bacevich, author of American Empire: The Realities and Consequences of U.S. Diplomacy, “America is Rome.”(I would comment that the arguably residual benefits that Rome provided to some of its conquered subjects and citizens are absent in the pillage that we have witnessed of late in the service of the United States.)

Dr. Griffin's call to action is an urgent one given the imminent demise of the planet from global warming and the spread of depleted uranium; and given the imminent slaughter of thousands in the Middle East and Iran; and given the profiteering of a very few at the expense of the rest of the world. “Give us this day our daily bread,” Dr. Griffin suggests, is a prayer for fairness and justice, and a statement of the early Christians that they wanted no more than to live in peace, free from hunger and exploitation. Nor is the prayer, “Deliver us from evil” an excuse for inaction. The early Christians were a threat to Rome, as they sought to deliver themselves from its yoke. What are the Christians of today, and how can they turn the tide?

The first half of Christian Faith and the Truth Behind 9/11 is a well-documented recap of some of the more obvious lies, inaccuracies, and impossibilities of the official story of the 9/11 attacks. Dr. Griffin hopes that this information, for those readers who are still unaware of the scope of the evidence, will inspire calls for 9/11 Truth from the pulpit, the classroom, the lecture hall, the seminar, the journal, and, yes, from the mainstream newspapers, radio and television.

The second half of the book is a concise history of Christianity from the point of view of process theology, which states that God's contribution to creation is that of a molder of “creativity” itself, and that of one who brought order from a chaos of primordial matter. God got the world off to a good start. Planet Earth managed to evolve into a glorious place (heaven on earth if you will). With the coming of Homo sapiens and their huge brains and ability to make choices, the possibility of demonic evil arose. With the rise of human civilization, with its system of warfare, the actual struggle between the divine and demonic began.

That is where 9/11 Truth comes in.

That is where you come in.

First, read the book. It is important, intellectually stimulating, well researched and documented, and readable. The piling up of incontrovertible evidence in Part One is ammunition enough to convince even those in the peace movement that our government is guilty of orchestrating the 9/11 attacks. The accusations against the “liberal” and mainstream media are accurate and, indeed, entertaining.

Part Two provides a cogent argument that Christians especially should oppose empire, since Christianity began as an anti-imperial religion, and that, if 9/11 was orchestrated in order to advance the American empire, as much evidence indicates, Christians should especially be concerned to expose the truth about 9/11.

Second, if you find his case convincing - - - that 9/11 was a grand move on the chessboard of conquest and tyranny - - - then join your voice with his and others in the 9/11 Truth movement to make this truth known far and wide.

In 1779 Ethan Allen, in his Narrative, wrote: “Some are appointed to office, in these States, who read the history of the cruelties of this war with the same careless indifferency as they do the pages of the Roman history.” Those in the 9/11 Truth movement have the same lament today. We need to end the indifference to these cruelties and the big lie by which the have been justified.

Jim Hogue is a writer, actor and small farmer living in Calais, Vermont. He may be reached at 802 456 1123.