Vancouver Sun: "A theologian asks the hard questions about 9/11"

[Minstrel Boy]

I'm not a big fan of Griffin's "The New Pearl Harbor." It's pretty slight, his knowledge is sketchy, and too much attention is given dubious theories like "no plane hit the Pentagon." much better is Ruppert's "Crossing the Rubicon." But still, it's good to see a VERY positive article like this in a mainstream and even relatively conservative paper.

A theologian asks the hard questions about 9/11
A soft-spoken professor of religion risks a hard-earned reputation as a scholar to write one of the most incredible political books of the year

Douglas Todd
Vancouver Sun
Saturday, December 11, 2004

...

So why did this soft-spoken professor from the high-ranking Methodist-rooted School of Theology at Claremont, Calif., feel it necessary to risk his hard-earned reputation as a religion scholar to write one of the most incredible -- in all senses of the word -- political books of 2004?

Because no one else in mainstream America seemed prepared to do it.

The result? Griffin's book, The New Pearl Harbour: Disturbing Questions About the Bush Administration and 9/11 (Interlink Publishing, $22.50) has already sold an astonishing 80,000 copies.

...

In the past month, Harper's Magazine and the New York Times have tentatively started to catch up with Griffin's questions. Harper's, for instance, published a cover feature titled, "Whitewash as public service: How the 9/11 Commission Report defrauds the nation," by Benjamin DeMott, which also asks whether it was sheer incompetence or something else that made the attacks possible.

For his part, Griffin says he's been overwhelmed by the positive responses he's received to his book, which has sold 50,000 copies in the U.S. almost solely by word of mouth. In an e-mail interview, Griffin said he's only received about a dozen denunciations. Many families of those who died in the World Trade Center attack are among his supporters. Two of his many high-placed admirers are Canadians; former Liberal defence minister Paul Hellyer and Michael Chossudovsky of the University of Ottawa.

http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/news/editorial/story.html?id=b71c1343-88d8-4cc2-af87-97f16ad39800

[frylock]

1. i agree, and i preferred nafeez ahmed's "the war on freedom"..

but the nice thing about "The New Pearl Harbor" is that it was an easy read, and a good introduction for someone who may not necessarily know about, or believe LIHOP/MIHOP.

I bought a second copy with the intent of passing it around among my friends. Even tried to get moms to read it, as she was listening to Coast to Coast one night when Ruppert happened to be on. None of my peeps wanted to anything to do with it (sadly, I think they represent a large cross section of society who simply cannot bring themselves to believe that the govt is capable of such a thing, and therefore do not want to think about it, let alone do any research on the subject).

Last week I'm having dinner over at my folks, and THEY start asking me all kinds of questions about 9-11. Very open minded, after my dad and I have had arguments about the possibilities of LIHOP/MIHOP. Moms even asks about "that book you wanted me to read". Unfortunately, I gave it to my dear friend who totally believes, but doesn't know many details about it. She lives over in DC, so I may have to cough up my original copy for mom to check out.

On the upside, judging by the sales of TNPH, I think the veil of fog is starting to lift, and people are more willing to ask some questions. Wish it could have happened sooner.

[Minstrel Boy]

2. "The War on Freedom" is excellent.

That's a book I've bought for friends. (Though I suspect they've yet to crack it.)

It is a bit dated now, but Ahmed is to be credited with amassing such a wealth of solid material relatively early.

You are right about "The New Pearl Harbor" being an easy read. My qualm about it being used as an introduction is that he gives too much attention to the sensational at the expense of the substantive.

[sweetheart]

3. Once a student considering clairmont

I can't help but reflect how profoundly accurate your statement
is: "gives too much attention to the sensational at the expense of the substantive."

I decided not to apply for the graduate theology school after having
an open house with all the folks... for a similar reasons.... i
found a lotta talk about jesus, and less i felt comprehension of
jesus himself. Then again, what is to be expected of an american
theology school preparing people for corporate religion.... oil
and water.