{"product_id":"gods-of-the-smoke-machine-scott-latta-9798890680136","title":"Gods of the Smoke Machine: Power, Pain, and the Rise of Christian Nationalism in the Megachurch","description":"\u003cb\u003eWe are entering a new era of religion in America: For the first time, fewer than half the country belongs to a church.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e But within that group, growing numbers are consolidating in megachurches, which are amassing social and political power in our age of convenience and easy celebrity. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Megachurch pastors have never been more influential--with media empires, networks, and entire colleges under their control. But their churches have also never been more prone to abuse and hurt. \u003ci\u003eGods of the Smoke Machine\u003c\/i\u003e goes inside America's largest churches to uncover the hidden stories of trauma happening within our most powerful Christian institutions and meet the survivors, attorneys, and advocates fighting for accountability. It is a cloaked world of sex, power, politics, and money, but also a human story of pain, betrayal, and resilience. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Combining personal storytelling and original reporting, author Scott Latta pulls back the curtain on a dangerously insular institution of more than seventeen hundred churches nationwide that is answerable to almost no outside accountability. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Even those who have never set foot in a church can feel the implications of this societal shift. Megachurch pastors were the kingmakers of Donald Trump and drove the rhetoric behind the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. For decades, they have crafted their own laws even as they fought to influence ours. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eGods of the Smoke Machine \u003c\/i\u003etells a sweeping story of those who commoditized our search for meaning into a machine that preserves privilege, profit, and power at the cost of those it wounds along the way.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Scott Latta\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798890680136\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Chicago Review Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/28\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 288\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover","brand":"Scott Latta","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":46838486073599,"sku":"9798890680136","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_032a032c-dde9-4672-a3d9-28781304fcf7.jpg?v=1746589979","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/gods-of-the-smoke-machine-scott-latta-9798890680136","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}