Brave & wise decision!

*****************************************

“I am human, because you are human. My humanity is caught in yours and if
you are dehumanized, I am dehumanized, and anger resentment and retribution
are corrosive of this great good, the harmony that has got to exist between
people.”

-Desmond Tutu




-----Original Message-----
From: News Service [ mailto:newsservice@CTR.PCUSA.ORG]
Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2006 5:18 PM
To: PCUSANEWS@HALAK.PCUSA.ORG
Subject: [PCUSANEWS] PPC defends decision to publish controversial book

You are currently subscribed to the PCUSANEWS listserv of
the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

============================================================

This story located at: www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2006/06414.htm

06414
August 16, 2006

PPC defends decision to publish controversial book

Not disloyal to PC(USA), CEO Perkins says

by Jerry L. Van Marter

LOUISVILLE * The Presbyterian Publishing Corporation (PPC)
staunchly defended its decision to publish a controversial
book that asserts the U.S. government helped stage the Sept.
11, 2001 terrorist attacks as a pretext for going to war in
Afghanistan and Iraq, saying the purpose of the book is to
"provoke serious discussion and reflection."

In a prepared statement, PPC officials also rejected the
idea that publishing David Ray Griffin's Christian Faith and
the Truth behind 9/11: A Call to Reflection and Action is
somehow the fault of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and
has caused further damage to the troubled denomination.

"The views expressed in the book are Griffin's alone," said
PPC Board chair Kenneth Godshall. "PPC provides a variety of
viewpoints in the books we publish. A few of them from time
to time are controversial. This particular book is the work
of an independent author and in no way represents the views
of the denomination or PPC itself."

Conservative groups in the PC(USA) have maintained a steady
drumbeat of criticism in recent weeks, attacking the book,
attributing its publication to the denomination and claiming
its publication is further dividing the church.

PPC President and Publisher Davis Perkins rejected those
charges, saying that critics "rather than engaging the
content of Griffin's work, have chosen to cloud the issue by
claiming, falsely, that the book was published by the
PC(USA)."

PPC is one of six agencies of the PC(USA). It is separately
incorporated and receives no funding from the denomination.
Its board of directors is elected by the PC(USA) General
Assembly but operates with complete editorial autonomy.

"Under the Westminster John Knox Press (WJK) imprint, PPC
publishes a theologically and religiously diverse selection
of books that extends far beyond the Reformed tradition and
the official policies and stances of the PC(USA)," the Aug.
11 statement said. "Books specifically for the PC(USA) are
published under our Geneva Press imprint."

Griffin's book was published under the Westminster John Knox
imprint.

"WJK publishes a plethora of books by non-Presbyterians
without being branded as disloyal to the interests of the
PC(USA)," Perkins said. "For example, no one ever imagined
WJK's popular The Gospel According to The Simpsons reflected
the 'official position' of the denomination on matters of
theology or polity, and, similarly, there was never a word
of criticism about WJK publishing the works of a major
Jewish scholar like Jacob Neusner or an evangelical Anglican
like N. T. Wright.

"This is what academic/trade publishers do, and this is what
the General Assembly intended for PPC and the WJK imprint
when it unanimously approved the documents that created the
organization," Perkins said. "There are close to 1,500
titles in the WJK backlist portfolio and the specter that
they are in or out of kilter with a so-called official
Presbyterian position has never been a serious issue."

Perkins acknowledged the controversy Griffin's book has
stirred up. "We expect people to take issue with our books
from time to time," he said, "but what is disappointing is
that the most vocal critics of the work to date are
dismissing it without having even bothered to read it. What
we intended when we published this WJK book was not that
people would necessarily agree or disagree with the author's
thesis, but that his well-researched argument would provoke
serious discussion and reflection among Christians in this
country who care about these issues. We feel this author *
and all our authors * deserves this courtesy."

Godshall agreed. "PPC and its predecessor imprints have
published books by David Ray Griffin for many years," he
said. "In his new book, Griffin provides a theological
response to contemporary political events that many readers
will find uncomfortable, even objectionable. We invite
Presbyterians to read the book before making up their
minds."

Griffin, a retired professor of philosophy and theology at
the Claremont School of Theology in California and one of
the founders of the "9/11 Truth Movement," has stirred such
controversy before with two previous books from other
publishers: The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions about
the Bush Administration and 9/11 and The 9/11 Commission
Report: Omissions and Distortions.

In his preface to the 192-page Christian Faith and the Truth
behind 9/11, Griffin writes: "One of our main tasks as
theologians is to deal with current events in light of the
fact that our first allegiance must be to God, who created
and loves all people * indeed all forms of life. If we
believe that our political and military leaders are acting
on the basis of policies that are diametrically opposed to
divine purposes, it is incumbent upon us to say so."

Presbyterians Today magazine has commissioned Alan Wisdom,
vice-president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy
and a Presbyterian elder, to review the book. His review
will be posted on the Presbyterians Today Web site in the
next few days.

============================================================

You are currently subscribed to the PCUSANEWS listserv of
the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

To unsubscribe, send a blank message to
mailto:PCUSANEWS-unsubscribe-request@halak.pcusa.org.

To update your email address, send your old email address
and your new one to
mailto:PCUSANEWS-owner@halak.pcusa.org.

For questions or comments, send an email to
mailto:PCUSANEWS-owner@halak.pcusa.org.

To learn more, visit www.pcusa.org/pcnews/

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
100 Witherspoon Street
Louisville, KY 40202
(888) 728-7228