Carlton Sherwood - Inquisition

Inquisition

In his book Inquisition: The Persecution and Prosecution of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, Sherwood concluded:

"The Unification Church, its leaders and followers were and continue to be the victims of the worst kind of religious prejudice and racial bigotry this country has witnessed in over a century. Moreover, virtually every institution we as Americans hold sacred the Congress, the courts, law enforcement agencies, the press, even the U.S. Constitution itself was prostituted in a malicious, oftentimes brutal manner, as part of a determined effort to wipe out this small but expanding religious movement."

Sherwood's independence from the subject matter, however, was called into question. Sherwood had previously worked for the Washington Times, owned by members of the Unification Church.

In the story "The Resurrection Of Reverend Moon" (January 21, 1992), the PBS television series Frontline produced a copy of a letter addressed to Moon, written by James Gavin, a leader in Moon's Unification Church. Gavin tells Moon he reviewed the "overall tone and factual contents" of the book before publication and suggested revisions. Gavin adds that "Mr. Sherwood has assured me that all this will be done when the manuscript is sent to the publisher." Gavin concludes by telling Moon, "When all of our suggestions have been incorporated, the book will be complete and in my opinion will make a significant impact.... In addition to silencing our critics now, the book should be invaluable in persuading others of our legitimacy for many years to come."