David Ray Griffin, professor emeritus of philosophy and theology at Claremont School of Theology and Claremont Graduate University, continues his series of books in which he argues that the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, were “false-flag” operations of individuals within the U.S. government to aid America’s imperialistic advances into Afghanistan and Iraq and to spread U.S. power and influence around the world.
Incorporating material from newly-released interviews as well as reviewing information he has previously published i, the first half of this book contains extensively footnoted material formed into a well-crafted argument against the official explanation of the 9/11 attacks given by the 9/11 Commission, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Institute of Standards & Technology, and various independent media groups. Griffin sums up his argument in this portion by concluding that the evidence he cites is a “conclusive case” (p. 82) that the Bush administration willfully and purposefully committed an act of war against the population and territory of the United States in order to accomplish the goals of a number of its “neo-conservative” members: the absolute primacy of the United States as the unchallenged world power and the institution of a worldwide Pax Americana.
The second half of Griffin’s work is entitled “A Christian Critique of 9/11 and American Imperialism.” In this portion, Griffin uses a process theology argument for the existence of the demonic as an imminent threat to the existence of life on earth, compares the “American Empire” with that of Rome, and concludes that Christians should fight against this new empire just as the early church defied the Roman Imperial system.
This space does not allow an in-depth analysis of the theology of the second half of Griffin’s work, much less a more balanced approach to the “conspiracy theory” promulgated in the first half. What I would like to add here are a few personal reflections on the material presented by Griffin.
There is an extensive amount of “alternative media” on the Internet that advances the same arguments that Griffin offers, implicating the U.S. government in the planning, execution, and cover-up of the September 11th incidents.ii I am not an expert in this area, nor have I conducted extensive research, as Griffin claims he has done. Yet the plot in question presumes a conspiracy so large and vast, stretching across the world, that it is amazing in the five years since these calamities no one from this conspiracy has come forward with undeniable evidence to refute the “official line.” If Griffin’s claims are true, perhaps the most disturbing aspect of his “truth” would be the size of the conspiracy and its total lack of leaks by some of the conspirators. Given the current administration’s inability to control leaks on other potentially embarrassing issues (the monitoring of international calls by the NSA, for example), it seems difficult to fathom that a conspiracy of this size and scope could have continued for such an extended period of time.
The second half of the book was of more interest to me. Griffin’s presentation on the issue of the existence of evil, the rise of demonic power, and the comparison of current American policy to the actions of Imperial Rome, was fascinating. I am not a process theologian, nor do I embrace Whitehead’s insistence on God’s lack of sovereignty over all of creation that is foundational in process theology. However, I do agree with Griffin’s assertion on the threat of evil power “that is driving the world in a direction that is diametrically opposed to divine purposes” (p. 122). Claiming that we must rediscover the “realistic” but not the “mythological” view given in the New Testament of the demonic, Griffin argues against a full-fledged dualism. He sees that evil has real autonomy and power: “The demonic has potentially deadly consequences” (p. 124). Griffin echoes refrains found in Walter Wink’s works of on evil poweriii and in Marva Dawn’s response.iv He rightly calls attention to the need for those who would claim Christ as Lord to not allow a “lesser power” to interfere with God’s broader claim upon us. Stating “Christian faith is incompatible with Nationalism (sic),” he sees the church “as a community of faith devoted to freeing both individuals and institutions from subjugation to demonic power” (p. 188).
What is lacking in Griffin’s presentation is any sense of hope. Because he understands Jesus’ ministry as being anti-imperialist and God’s power as limited, he looks to the churches to become centers of “truth” to counter the lies promulgated by the demonic. While he sees the crucifixion of Jesus as a sign of evil at work, nowhere is there a resurrection or proclamation of God’s victory. He sees a larger goal of a “genuine global democracy” (p. 191) as a means of limiting the power of the demonic, but he also states that such a goal sounds utopian. In this I agree. If we are looking to bring God’s kingdom in by founding a “global democracy,” we would continue to deny the power of evil Griffin correctly argues is more powerful than our good intentions!
This book was fascinating for me to read. It is one I probably would not have read if I had not been asked to write this review. Having read it, I have a better appreciation for the arguments of the 9/11 conspiracists, as well as a better appreciation for how process theology works. I was not convinced that there was or is a conspiracy within the government about 9/11. I was appreciative of Griffin’s remarks on the demonic, for I agree with C.S. Lewis, “Evil works best when its existence is denied.”v But I disagree with Griffin’s definition of the church as a community simply devoted to freeing individuals and institutions from evil power. We are so much more! I much prefer the definition given by N.T. Wright: “Christians are called to leave behind, in the tomb of Jesus Christ, all that belongs to the brokenness and incompleteness of the present world. It is time, in the power of the Spirit, to take up our proper role, our fully human role, as agents, heralds, and stewards of the new day that is dawning. That, quite simply, is what it means to be Christian: to follow Jesus Christ into the new world, God’s new world, which he has thrown open before us.”vi
Scott Leslie is pastor of First Church of Allen, Texas.
i The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions about the Bush Administration and 9/11 (Interlink, 2004) and The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions (Interlink, 2005)
ii A “Google” search on September 5th revealed more than 44 million web pages!
iiiSee Naming the Powers: The Language of Power in the New Testament, Vol 1 of The Powers (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984); Unmasking the Powers: The Invisible Forces that Determine Human Existence, Vol. 2 of The Powers (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1986); Engaging the Powers: Discernment and Resistance in a World of Domination, Vol. 3 of The Powers (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992); When the Powers Fall (Minneapolis: Augsburg-Fortress, 1998); and The Powers that Be (New York: Doubleday, 1999).
iv See Dawn’s presentation of Jacques Ellul’s arguments in Powers, Weakness, & the Tabernacling of God (Eerdmans, 2001).
v C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (New York: MacMillan Publishing, 1977), p. 3.
vi N.T. Wright, Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense, (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 2006), p. 237
