Bill Gertz and the sword of darkness

Above: National security reporter Bill Gertz has been described by employer Reverend Moon as an agent of prophecy.

Bill Gertz, Washington Times reporter and devout member of the Unification Church, has recently drawn an awful lot of attention for stories no one but the Times will print: stories about Chechen terrorists sneaking across the Rio Grande, Russians pilfering the missing Iraqi explosives, and other marvels. Says Joshua Marshall: “You can’t make this stuff up. Or, I guess, actually you can.”

In a December 10, 2000 sermon, Washington Times founder Sun Myung Moon described Gertz as playing a special role in working towards a time when “the world will follow me.”

I have a double-edged sword, the darkest dark and lightest light. Which came first, dark or light? [Dark.] Light! [Dark.] Light! The time is coming in which the world will follow me. When the sun rises, no matter how dark the world is, it will light up. When the time comes, it may just take a week to change the world. That’s why I have been securing the media arm, radio, television and even the wire service. Imagine the five major media organizations opening their hearts and competing to broadcast my teachings. The world would be changed.

America is the most powerful country in the world. But its powerful leaders listen to the Washington Times. A statement from the Times can affect them dramatically. The government of other nations also listen to the Washington Times. Who at the Washington Times is having the biggest impact? [Bill Gertz.] Bill Gertz. How old is he? He is young. He only graduated from high school, joined the Washington Times and became famous.

Actually, Josh, you were right the first time.

P.S. It’s interesting to compare the Washington Times with counterpart Moonie papers in Japan and South America, similarly known for alarming “exclusives.” In 1987, the Asian affairs journal AMPO claimed that Moon’s Tokyo World Daily News was whipping up fears that the government was on the brink of being destroyed by Communist spies — unless Japanese Diet members, affiliated with Moon’s anti-Communist group, pushed through an emergency, and reactionary Anti-Espionage Act.

P.P.S. In this essay from a Moon-related site, Bill Gertz’s wife describes feeling “abused,” “treated like cattle,” but ultimately inspired — after being ritually hit during a 21-day religious retreat in Korea, meant to dispel bad spirits from herself and others. According to this participant, the first time hurts the most. Says Debra Gertz:

One thing I really repented for in the prayer chapel in [South Korea] is fallen, immoral, American women that are influencing all the world with immorality. That felt great. To pray tears of repentance and to feel it really having an impact.