Coronavirus Sapientology

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming Tower—a riveting thriller and “all-too-convincing chronicle of science, espionage, action and speculation” (The Wall Street Journal). At an internment camp in Indonesia, forty-seven people are pronounced dead with acute hemorrhagic fever. When epidemiologist Henry Parsons travels there on behalf of the World Health Organization to investigate, what he finds will have staggering repercussions. Halfway across the globe, the deputy director of U.S. Homeland Security scrambles to mount a response to the rapidly spreading pandemic leapfrogging around the world, which she believes may be the result of an act of biowarfare. And a rogue experimenter in man-made diseases is preparing his own terrifying solution. As already-fraying global relations begin to snap, the virus slashes across the United States, dismantling institutions and decimating the population. With his own wife and children facing diminishing odds of survival, Henry travels from Indonesia to Saudi Arabia to his home base at the CDC in Atlanta, searching for a cure and for the origins of this seemingly unknowable disease. The End of October is a one-of-a-kind thriller steeped in real-life political and scientific implications, filled with the insight that has been the hallmark of Wright’s acclaimed nonfiction and the full-tilt narrative suspense that only the best fiction can offer.

As we witness the mounting illness and death toll of the coronavirus, the messages of the Old Testament prophets offer comfort and truth. They call us to repentance and affirm God's faithfulness. Doman Lum crafts twenty-one sermons which preach the good news of God's love. The story of the great pandemic involves the impact of COVID-19, President Donald Trump, the murder and killings of African Americans, and the 2020 presidential election. The Old Testament prophets and contemporary biblical theologians share spiritual insights, faith, and trust. Lum encourages the reader to become involved in the public response, the public health programs, and government responsibility to cope with this health crisis as citizens of the United States. This book features the reading of Scriptures, profound and thoughtful sermons, and pastoral prayers. It is for the individual, family, community, and nation who seek spiritual counsel in the midst of the pandemic.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD AND NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST • From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming Tower comes “an utterly necessary story” (The Wall Street Journal) that pulls back the curtain on the church of Scientology: one of the most secretive organizations at work today. • The Basis for the HBO Documentary. Scientology presents itself as a scientific approach to spiritual enlightenment, but its practices have long been shrouded in mystery. Now Lawrence Wright—armed with his investigative talents, years of archival research, and more than two hundred personal interviews with current and former Scientologists—uncovers the inner workings of the church. We meet founder L. Ron Hubbard, the highly imaginative but mentally troubled science-fiction writer, and his tough, driven successor, David Miscavige. We go inside their specialized cosmology and language. We learn about the church’s legal attacks on the IRS, its vindictive treatment of critics, and its phenomenal wealth. We see the church court celebrities such as Tom Cruise while consigning its clergy to hard labor under billion-year contracts. Through it all, Wright asks what fundamentally comprises a religion, and if Scientology in fact merits this Constitutionally-protected label.

As the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) spread around the world, so did theories, stories, and conspiracy beliefs about it. These theories infected communities from the halls of Congress to Facebook groups, spreading quickly in newspapers, on various social media and between friends. They spurred debate about the origins, treatment options and responses to the virus, creating distrust towards public health workers and suspicion of vaccines. This book examines the most popular Covid-19 theories, connecting current conspiracy beliefs to long-standing fears and urban legends. By examining the vehicles and mechanisms of Covid-19 conspiracy, readers can better understand how theories spread and how to respond to misinformation.

"Birth of a Movement tells the story of the Black Lives Matter movement through a Christian lens. Readers will gain a deeper understanding of the movement and why it can help the church, and the country, move closer to racial equality. Readers will understand why Black Lives Matter is a truly "Christ-like movement.""--

This Element surveys the history and practice of Scientology studies over the past sixty years and offers resources for scholars and students moving forward. Section 1 reviews the history of academic research on the subject from 1958 to the present day. Section 2 draws on the author's fieldwork with the Church of Scientology to illuminate how founder L. Ron Hubbard (1911–86) is viewed among contemporary members. Section 3 considers Hubbard's influence and legacy in terms of the church sites and institutions that exist today in connection with the soteriological 'Bridge to Total Freedom.' Section 4 introduces English-language archival resources and their strengths. Section 5 proposes some open areas for Scientology researchers. Finally, glossaries of terms and appendices are included with major dates in Hubbard's life and Scientology research and bibliographical information for major archival collections in North America.

The circumstances surrounding COVID-19 brought about an unprecedented change in people’s lives on a scale as never before, at least in modern history. Lockdown, protection of the vulnerable, protection of self, poor and mixed government advice and evaluation, vested interests – all are part of the picture that has enveloped us and we have become since early 2020. This book is not the place to get into the rights and wrongs of government, corporate or global management of the crisis. But it is the place to go into how people of many faiths, and none, have responded to the crisis with the goodness of their hearts, inspired by their different spiritual awareness – and by doing so, rising above the crisis to make something positive from it. As The European Times News put it: "It is the most comprehensive and well illustrated, yet brief collection of evidenced facts of what People of Faith DO in times of need".

*Now a #1 New York Times bestseller* "Compulsively readable..." —LA Weekly “Excoriating memoir" —Publisher's Weekly “A sad and painful but bravely told story.” —Kirkus Reviews The only book to examine the origins of Scientology's current leader, RUTHLESS tells the revealing story of David Miscavige's childhood and his path to the head seat of the Church of Scientology told through the eyes of his father. Ron Miscavige's personal, heartfelt story is a riveting insider's look at life within the world of Scientology. Not for sale outside the U.S.