Kilpatrick, founder of the religion satire site Larknews.com, has written a mildly entertaining, if also slightly snarky, introduction to American evangelicalism. First, he claims evangelicals think most people—the New York Times
staff, divorce lawyers and all Muslims and Buddhists—will go to hell. Evangelicals themselves, of course, will go to heaven, "the ultimate gated community." It can be hard to spot evangelicals out and about, though they are likely to patronize businesses with biblical names, like Last Days Auto Repair, and they often carry cell phones that ring hymn tunes. Evangelicals also favor certain décor: Thomas Kinkade paintings, Precious Moments figurines and art with biblical quotations. If you wish to actually visit an evangelical church, look for an organization that sounds more like a rehab center than a house of worship: if the building down the block is called Grace Community or Hope Fellowship, odds are it's an evangelical church. There are, to be sure, some chuckles to be had here. "The Legend of the Sand Dollar," a takeoff on cheesy evangelical poems, is very clever, and the chapter on evangelical education offers an amusing look at both home-schooling and Christian colleges. But on the whole, the jokes are a tad too predictable. (Mar.)
