In addition, the IRD press release even has details about me and my upcoming tour wrong. With regard to me, it says that I am a member of Scholars for 9/11 Truth. But I am instead a member of Scholars for 9/11 Truth and Justice, which is an entirely different organization. With regard to my 15-city tour, the IRD says that it will "feature stops at Episcopal and United Methodist Churches." Now I happen to be very fond of Episcopalians (my wife is one), and I have spoken in Episcopal churches,68 but as one can see from the itinerary for my tour,69 no Episcopal church is mentioned.
Why might Walton and Tooley have made such an easily avoidable mistake? Perhaps because of a special animus toward the Episcopal Church, due to its full affirmation of gay rights,70 Walton and Tooley succumbed to wishful thinking, hoping to use me to damn that communion (along with the United Methodist Church, which is another denomination that is especially targeted by the IRD 71). This supposition is suggested by Tooley's statement that "both Episcopal and United Methodist churches [are] hosting [Griffin's] upcoming conspiracy-laden lectures."
But whatever the explanation, this relatively trivial error in the press release provides one more example of the fact that no claims made by the IRD should be trusted, unless they are supported by reputable sources. In fact, given the number and the seriousness of the errors and distortions in this tiny press release, one might wonder why anyone takes the IRD seriously. Probably few people would, except that it receives heavy funding, primarily from secular right-wing foundations, with which it can cause considerable mischief. 72
Conclusion
Be that as it may, I will close by saying to the IRD what a New England preacher of an earlier century said to a debate opponent: "I cannot permit your ignorance, however vast, to take precedence over my knowledge, however limited."73
NOTES
1 See Frederick Clarkson, "The Battle for the Mainline Churches," The Public Eye, Spring 2006 (http://www.publiceye.org/magazine/v20n1/clarkson_battle.html); Andrew J. Weaver et al., "The Radical Right Assault on Mainline Protestantism and the National Council of Churches of Christ," Talk to Action, March 3, 2006 (http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/3/3/18370/16528).
2 "Institute on Religion and Democracy," Source Watch, 1998 (http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Institute_on_Religion_and_Democracy); "Institute on Religion and Democracy," IPS Right Web (Tracking Militarists' Efforts to Influence U.S. Foreign Policy), February 25, 2007 (http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/Institute_on_Religion_and_Democracy).
3 Jeff Walton, "9/11 Conspiracy Theorist Dreaming Up New Absurdities," Institute on Religion and Democracy, April 15, 2010 (http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/8442913627.html).
4 Cass R. Sunstein and Adrian Vermeule, "Conspiracy Theories." This article first appeared as a Preliminary Draft, January 15, 2008 (http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1084585#%23). On August 18, 2008, a briefer and otherwise revised version of this article appeared on the Internet with an expanded title: "Conspiracy Theories: Causes and Cures." In 2009, this revised version was published in the Journal of Political Philosophy, 17/2 (June 2009), 202-27.
5 This office, known as OIRA, is under the Office of Management and Budget (http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/inforeg_administrator). See "President Obama Announces Another Key OMB Post," The White House, April 20, 2009 (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/President-Obama-Announces-Another-Key-OMB-Post).
6 See, e.g., Marc Estrin, "Your Government Appointees at Work: Cass Sunstein Seeks 'Cognitive' Provocateurs," The Rag Blog, January 11, 2010 (http://theragblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/got-fascism-obama-advisor-promotes.html); "Open letter from Cyril Wecht to Cass Sunstein and Adrian Vermeule," Real History Blog, January 26, 2010 (http://realhistoryarchives.blogspot.com/2010/01/open-letter-from-cyril-wecht-to-cass.html); John Stossel, "Stealth Propaganda," Fox Business, January 18, 2010 (http://stossel.blogs.foxbusiness.com/2010/01/18/stealth-propaganda/?test=latestnews); Bill Willers, "An Attack from Harvard Law on the Escalating 9/11 Truth Movement," OpEdNews, February 4, 2010 (http://www.opednews.com/articles/AN-ATTACK-FROM-HARVARD-LAW-by-Bill-Willers-100203-909.html); Mark Crispin Miller, "Obama's Info Chief Advocates Disinformation and Domestic Covert Ops," OpEdNews, January 15, 2010 (http://www.opednews.com/articles/Obama-s-Info-Chief-advocat-by-Mark-Crispin-Mille-100115-63.html); Glenn Greenwald, "Obama Confidant's Spine-Chilling Proposal," Salon.com, January 15, 2010 (http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/01/15/sunstein).
7 David Ray Griffin, Christian Faith and the Truth behind 9/11: A Call to Reflection and Action (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2006).
8 "Mark Tooley" (Staff Bio), Institute on Religion and Democracy (http://www.theird.org/Page.aspx?pid=212&srcid=183). According to Steven D. Martin, the IRD's bio on Tooley mentioned his former CIA employment only after this fact had been revealed by others ("Web Site Shows IRD on the Defensive," Talk To Action, February 8, 2008 [http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/2/8/111843/7251]).
9 "IRD: Presbyterian-Published 9/11 Conspiracy Book is Absurd," Press Release, Institute of Religion and Democracy, September 26, 2006 (http://www.ird-renew.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=fvKVLfMVIsG&b=390529&ct=2925837).
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