9/11 Conspiracy and Tax Protestors

I've been reading and watching some literature lately centering on "secret combination" themes such as 9/11 being an inside job, the Lusitania and Pearl Harbor being intentionally orchestrated by those who stand to gain financially from world war, the gulf of Tonkin being fabricated, the immorality of the federal reserve, unconstitutional passage of the federal income tax, etc.  I watched a vid of Steven Jones, the BYU professor who asserts that explosives were likely used in addition to the 9/11 plane crashes.  I also saw some of Jack Monett's themes about Rothschilds and small banking groups.  Lastly, I've seen a few videos by Zeitgeist.  

My knee-jerk response is to reject out of hand these "conspiracy theories."  However, this preconceived notion to reject is unmerited because it reflects a closed mind.  An open mind always audi alteram partem "hears the other side."


"In the fall of 2006, amid controversy surrounding his work on the collapse of the World Trade Center, [Steven Jones] he was relieved of his teaching duties and placed on paid leave from" BYU. 

"On September 7, 2006, Jones removed his paper from BYU's website at the request of administrators and was placed on paid leave. ^[20] The university cited its concern about the "increasingly speculative and accusatory nature" of Jones' work and the concern that perhaps it had "not been published in appropriate scientific venues" as reasons for putting him under review. The review was to have been conducted at three levels: BYU administration, the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, and the Physics Department.^[21] Jones' colleagues also defended Jones' 9/11 work to varying degrees,^[22] and Project Censored lists his 9/11 research among the top mainstream media censored stories of 2007.^[23]
Jones' placement on paid leave drew criticism from the American Association of University Professors and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. Both organizations are long time critics of BYU's record on academic freedom.^[24] Jones "welcomed the review" because he hoped it would "encourage people to read his paper for themselves," however the review was abandoned (contrary to Jones' request) when Jones elected to retire, effective January 1, 2007".^[25]

Placing him on paid leave is better than firing him, but still seems inappropriate.  Promoting one's  physics-based interpretation of a significant world event should be a discretionary rather than egregious, sinful, or criminal matter.  Perhaps there are other reasons besides sinful conduct to put someone on paid leave, though.  Bottom line: I don't know yet what to make of this set of claims, nor any one of them individually.  The scientist in me says to let the conspiracy scholarship have it's day in court, and evaluate the evidence on the merits rather than on a presumption that because an idea is labeled "conspiracy theory" it is laughable or likely false. 

Also, because I don't know where else to stick it, I include an unrelated piece:
I have a strong hunch that the Fall of Adam, which we classically think of bringing in spiritual and physical death collectively to mankind, is symbolic of a reality that applies to each of us individually.  I think that perhaps the Garden of Eden, in addition to being a place, is also a set of conditions that applies to each of us individually. Partaking of the fruit, though originally done by Adam and Eve, is also done by each of us.  The whole idea of fairness (those who consume benefits should pay the resulting costs/ those who inflict harm should pay to restore said harm, or at the least be punished to satisfy retribution) seems to argue against my spiritual and physical death coming as a result of Adam's choice.  If death is a negative, it is not fair that I should receive it as a consequence of other than my own misdeed.

Fall of Adam = consciously/voluntarily stepping into mortality where death/disembodiment is the only out, which is still a personal transgression if God commands us individually as He did Adam and Eve not to partake of the fruit of that tree.  My choice to come to earth results in my physical and spiritual death.  Garden of Eden = unembodied state.  Partaking of the Fruit = choosing to ensoul a physical body, the act of possessing a body, of going from unembodied to embodied.