David Ray Griffin was at UQAM on Monday night. High priest of the movement of "truthers", it is came to give us his reading of the facts. And the important word is "reading". I was troubled by the crowds who lined up to enter the auditorium. All these people, this kind of talk? Disappointment, then. I thought we were less gullible ...
I was intrigued at one time by conspiracy theories, I confess. The movie Loose Change has cast doubt on me through his argumentative construction. Loose Change, Griffin and others (Meyssan, for example) have the advantage of offering an attractive version of the attacks which, by contradicting the official version alleging the failure of security services, emergency workers, buildings Similarly, just say that everything was planned in advance, and not only expected, but planned by the figures of power internally. In other words, instead of having to accept the unthinkable, that nobody could protect them, even their government, truthers decide to believe in a version where the enemy is within, so identifiable. "The belief in unreal things helps us to withstand real life," said Nancy Huston about faith in The myth-making species.
Conspiracy theories function as drawings issue of our childhood: they organize, link to odd facts reveal a drawing / hidden agenda. They abolish chance, fate, chaos, saying: look, here, here, here, see how everything can make sense if you accept see the truth. Much Chossudovski who presented the speakers that have hammered Griffin that "the facts were undeniable," that science was right. The towers of the World Trade Center would not have collapsed without the intervention of explosives. Witnesses heard explosions. They say that, we see that repeating, science, science my friends, you see that you can not deny the truth. But they neglect speak equally undeniable fact: preparing buildings for implosion takes months. Months during which workers would have placed explosives cons columns. How to do that while 45,000 people visit the tower every day? And explosives were triggered when the first explosion, when the planes hit the towers. But then, one hears almost suggest the explosives were installed after aircraft. In 102 minutes, so, much less for the south tower? Difficult from a scientific perspective, to accept that possibility. Ok, ok, could they admit. But the explosions? Want meeting that the fire example reservoirs that fed generators, power sources? Ok, ok, but then the "puff" of smoke, when the towers collapsed? You mean the very strength of the collapse, which has packed the 110-story towers in 7 floors of debris, then compressed to both the content of the towers and air?
I do not deny the fact that the U.S. took advantage of the attacks to accept an increase in defense costs, a reduction of rights by the Patriot Act or even that they have used the attacks as mantra to control the population. But after the fact. Yes, it has served their interests. But how could they plan that? Such planning would have meant that several thousand people in government as in the security services and military services, were aware of the attacks. In a city like Washington, in the words I do not know how involved, secrets are impossible because everyone immediately ran to the media to be the person who revealed the scoop? Anyway!
Conspiracy theories come into play when a) the explanation weakens the perception of a people, leading to insecurity; b) explanation does not tell all, as in this case, either by fear of consequences, either because the information is missing, either because it overstated given the magnitude of an event. Conspiracy theories play the same role, in fact, that religion and the founding myths: because humans do not understand how the earth had been created, because he needed to affix a meaning and a story to facts that exceeded, he invented a story. Whenever the human fear, suffering, he invents a meaning that transcends fear and pain: karma, destiny, fate. "All of this actually help people to live, to endure the pain of loss, to grieve, to renew their energies for the next day, "Huston writes. That does not mean that Jesus was born of immaculate conception, nor Moses separated the waters.
Religion, like conspiracy theories, is a narrative. This story, it behooves us to interpret, to consider it as a narrative and not as truth. And we returns, also, be wary when agitated propaganda and instead offer us an explanation, prompts us to cry in front of the facts it presents as "undeniable." The only thing that is undeniable when it comes to September 11, 2001, is that the World Trade Center no longer exist, and resulted in the deaths of thousands of people. Everything else can be reinterpreted.
I went to see Griffin out of curiosity, but also because I felt I had to. I explained before the conference, my "theory", my reading of conspiracy theories as foundational narrative, replacing god to understand the incomprehensible. I struggled throughout the conference not to scream, to deconstruct As Griffin's speech, adding other given what he said. I did not know, have only just discovered, that Griffin, a retired professor of theology, taught until 2005 in a very religious university, and in a department whose primary function is to train future priests. I do not know, but have nonetheless acknowledged in his speech. He speaks well, Griffin. He has a real talent as an orator, he is convincing. That does not mean that his world view, separate between true and false, good and evil, holds up.
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