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http:// --> Ashland, Oregon HOME Valley & State Sports Nation & World Opinion/Editorial Classifieds Business Columnists Local Issues Obituaries Weather Archive Revels Etcetera Backpage Hot Topics Most Viewed Forum Photo Galleries Video Readers Polls O-Zone Online Games Movie Preview Special Sections Real Estate Guide Menu Guide Shakespeare Subscribe Contact Us Rate Card Place an Ad Featured Galleries: May 23, 2007 Truth movement superstar visits SOU By Robert Plain Ashland Daily Tidings Prof. David Ray Griffin On Sept. 11, 2001, David Ray Griffin believed that al Qaeda terrorists flew airplanes into the World Trade Center. Not anymore. Since then, the theologian and former college professor who will speak in Ashland on Thursday night has become the one of the foremost names in the 9-11 truth movement, the loose association of people who don’t believe the U.S. government’s account of what happened on 9/11. “Prof. Griffin was initially very skeptical of claims of a major cover-up around 9/11,” according to wanttoknow.info, a Web site that specializes in alternative theories to mainstream issues. “But in April of 2003, a trusted friend sent him an e-mail ... After exploring the [information] he became convinced of a major cover-up around 9/11.” Griffin will be in Southern Oregon University’s Britt Ballroom at 7 p.m. Thursday to present a lecture on what he, and others, believe really happened that fateful September morning. Tickets cost $10; $5 for students. The talk is entitled, “Debunking the 9/11 Debunking.” “Putting aside all of his work in theology, Prof. Griffin then devoted himself to writing ‘The New Pearl Harbor,’ a devastating book with detailed footnotes which systematically presents a powerful account questioning the official story of 9/11,” according to wanttoknow.info. Since that time, Griffin has authored five additional books on Sept. 11, from his theories on why planes could not have taken down the World Trade Center buildings, to how the religious community should react to the possibility of a government cover-up. His supporters adamantly insist that he has debunked the U.S. government’s version of 9-11. “Read Griffin’s books,” said Ashland community activist John Fisher-Smith. “They are very conclusive.” Nancy Spencer, a retired musician living in Ashland, said, “I’m very impressed with his arguments.” Griffin believes there should be a full investigation into the events that transpired that day. In his books and lectures, he asserts that the U.S. government may be responsible for 9/11. He asserts that a number of facts and circumstantial evidence seem to point in that direction. Griffin believes the World Trade Center buildings were brought down by explosives planted in the towers prior to planes flying into them, ensuring their destruction. “High-rise steel-frame buildings have never — before or after 9/11 — been caused to collapse by fire,” he has said. “There were many features that suggest that the buildings were brought down deliberately through the method that’s known as controlled demolition.” The Washington Post dubbed Griffin, professor emeritus at Claremont University’s School of Theology, the leader of the “academic wing” of the 9-11 Truth Movement. But he does have his detractors in the movement for more answers. Chip Berlet, a senior analyst at Political Research Associates, a left-leaning think tank, believes there should be a more thorough investigation of Sept. 11 that would likely lead to indictments of military and civilian officials. On the popular radio program Democracy Now!, he said Griffin tends to distort opinions and conjecture as facts and irrefutable truth. “In the great cosmos of possibilities, many of the claims made by Professor Griffin are possible, but the way he presents them as facts is, I think, the problem,” Berlet told host Amy Goodman. “There are a number of suppositions. There are a number of claims which have been made which he presents as facts which are easily refuted.” Griffin responded on the program, which aired on May 26, 2004, that he is not purporting to know what actually happened. “I’m, rather, showing that [the mainstream] theory is full of problems,” he said. Staff writer Robert Plain can be reached at 482-3456 x. 226 or [email protected]. Current Comments: You got me! I did it! Now watchoo gonna do about it? Bwahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Chick Deney - Bunker City, WV - May 23rd, 4:47 PM Let's see. A theologian claims that explosive devices planted in the world trade center brought down the building. A bevy of engineers claim that the planes and resulting fire did it. Who ya gonna believe? The theologian, naturally. James R. Ruston - Fresno, CA - May 23rd, 10:55 PM In "the New Pear Harbor", DR Griffin explains very well the difference between "deductive evidence" [as strong as weakest link] and "cumulative evidence" [pieces of evidence reinforce each other]. Be open minded enough to study all the evidence that has been accumulated re. 9/11. How much more is needed before the people ask for a new, independent investigation, with expert witnesses testifying under oath about everything that had been omitted from the commission report. ? Thanks ATD!! Augustin - Taichung - May 24th, 3:06 AM Everything this guy has argued has been refuted, he has no solid evidence of anything he is purporting (pictures from the internet??), and has admitted his theories have holes in them. But he will come and preach to the choir at SOU,and those simple-minded fools will drink down the snake oil without applying any critical analysis of their own to his arguments.It is one thing to ask questions that need to be asked, and another to purport them as "Truth". Mike - Talent - May 24th, 7:45 AM When people dismiss fact after fact after fact it makes me wonder what there motive might be ,or how they came to be so closed minded , Dr. Griffin makes a very compelling case and has done it through hard painstaking research , I guess if one wishes to look at the overwhelming evidence that this was an inside job then the facts are there , if you choose to ignore them its your free will , but an act of omission is just as bad as an act of commission , lets work together for positive change . Eyes open - Talent Or. - May 24th, 11:16 AM i am skeptic of all of it...but it is rather ironic that both buildings collapsed the exact same way, from the bottom of where the planes hit. sure, sure, the discovery channel had a show about why with all this engineering jargon almost days after. but let's face it...they would have toppled over, not crumbled like any other planned demolition by explosives...hmmmm. it does make question things rather than sit complacently and swallow whatever is given, like most. i question everything. chad - ashland - May 24th, 11:17 AM Oh I have heard these arguments before. They are the same ones that would be saying the opposite if Clinton was Pres. Also it is the same argument from my stupid surfing friends who don't know the dictators names of Syria, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, or Iran. It is also the same people who cna not tell me the body counts from Saddam Hussein. This should do well with the fringe FACTLESS CONSPIRACY filled left. No matter how much evidence and proof you give them, they still say nuh huh. Joshua - Lahaina, HI - May 24th, 11:51 AM Griffin says �I�m [just] showing that [the mainstream] theory is full of problems.� Yeah, that and taking your money if you are stupid enough to buy into his claims. First, if you really claim to be intelligent people ask the first basic question who benefits from these wild assertions? The only one I see is Grifin himself through lecture circuit and book deals. Whether 9-11 was an Al Qaeda operative or not, who cares. There are plenty of people in the world who would. People, wake up! Great Con - Ashland, OR - May 24th, 12:41 PM Hey- he charges you money to hear him speak. Honestly, this is one of the dumber things I have heard....never let the facts get in the way of making money.........??? Gary - Ashland - May 24th, 9:53 PM This guy is incredibly dishonest. He just makes up questions based on distorted interpretations of events, and then pretends that they are facts. And why are people paying him $10 to hear him promote his book? How much money is he making off of slandering the victims of 9/11? James - Seattle, WA - May 25th, 7:24 AM I have read the vast majority of "Debunking 9/11 Debunking" (should be done by this weekend) and I must say with as much seriousness as I can muster, that with respect to 9/11, I am TOTALLY convinced there is a cover-up. While the engineering aspect to the towers' collapse is to me the crux of the 9/11 issue, what dramatically stands out as well are the obvious lies regarding the official story -- lies that can easily be seen and examined if one just simply makes the effort to LOOK at them. Eloy Gonzalez II ( [email protected] ) - Edinburg, TX - May 25th, 8:54 AM Griffin and the rest of the 9-11 Deniers love to hide behind the fig leaf of "we're just asking questions and pointing out holes in the official story." But in his speeches, he makes it clear that he believes in the "9-11 was an inside job" crackpottery. He makes a big deal out of the fact that high rise steel buildings have never come down from fire before or since, apparently missing the fact that the towers were also hit by airliners. Brainster - Phoenix, AZ - May 25th, 8:56 AM One of the Smoking Guns The POWDER (most people call it "dust") was produced from the light weight concrete floors and the dry wall all in 10 seconds. How is that possible without explosives??? If you can not prove that the falling building parts could produce the POWDER in 10 seconds by mechanical means then EXPLOSIVES had to be used becasue we all saw the POWDER and we still see the POWDER whenever we watch one of the videos. This proves without a doubt that it has to be an inside job. Peace Tom Spellman - Lake Geneva WI - May 25th, 1:42 PM Leave a Comment: Advertisement: Advertisement: Paid Advertising: Debt Help Inkjet Printers Payday Loans Free Ringtones Debt Consolidation Security Systems Debt Relief New Hampshire Primary Advertisement: Copyright © 2007 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved. Del.icio.us