This review is to correct a false impression of my own that I'd ALREADY reviewed this amazing and important book. Actually, I purchased my first copy of Griffin's extremely valuable theological documentary in 2007. At that time I wasn't reviewing for Amazon, but I cited and referenced it numerous times in various writings of my own. I also shared it with various friends and relatives, which led to the necessity of purchasing a second copy. It would have been at the time of this second purchase that I apparently thought I'd submitted a review, but obviously I did not. That second copy, too, has currently disappeared, so I re-purchased it yet again, and THIS time I'll be sure to formally post my opinion.
Although published in 2006, this book becomes ever timelier. While the Bush-Cheney administration is no longer in charge, it has now become painfully clear that our high hopes for a change in style with the advent of the Obama-Biden tenure were vain indeed. There is still an atmosphere of extreme secrecy, as reaction to the recent revelations about the NSA's massive data mining operations, and the continued use of clandestine CIA operations and oppressive tactics both on domestic and foreign soil, testify.
For me, what makes Griffin's writing most relevant is indeed the fact that it is theological, not political. He establishes the motivation for what may very well have been a false-flag operation designed to justify the spurious "War on Terror" and provide the impetus for the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan squarely on the imperial ambitions of the "neocons" who are the driving force in much of American politics. And it has become more and more obvious since the publication of this book that the repressive tactics set in motion at the time of the 9/11 attacks are being visited more and more viciously not only on the alleged perpetrators of these events, but also on American citizens who have the temerity to challenge the "official story".
In the next-to-last chapter, titled "The American Empire, Demonic Evil, and 9/11", Griffin raises some extraordinarily vital concerns. I'd like to quote just one brief paragraph, that in my opinion beautifully sums up the issue, which as I said is becoming ever more relevant as time passes and a new administration shows no signs of rejecting or revoking the policies spawned by the events of September 11, 2001:
"But the violence of 9/11, along with the official narrative thereof, distracted our primary attention away from the relation between humanity and nature and forced it back to human-vs.-human issues. Given the fact that much valuable time has been lost since the attacks - time that might have been used to slow global warming before it is too late - this dimension of 9/11 may turn out to be the most destructive from the divine perspective. The very fact that this foreseeable possibility exists makes 9/11 an extreme example of the demonic." (p. 183).
Now, from the perspective of seven more years down the road from the publication of this book, one begins to see the full prophetic impact of Griffin's writing. It is my profound prayer that as the Internet and Social Media continue to bring the questions raised by Griffin and others into our awareness, we may indeed begin to have a genuine awakening concerning the dangers of American imperialism that this book so clearly explains.
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