Fall from Grace: The Failed Crusade of the Christian Right

To (New York) Newsday religious-affairs correspondent D'Antonio, the Christian right is a movement built on unreason, whose followers, nostalgically yearning for a simpler past, have been betrayed by the movement's leaders. D'Antonio seeks to understand, not to condemn, and this journalistic account of his two-year immersion in born-again America offers a compelling firsthand picture of the leaders and the led. He spent an Easter weekend at Heritage USA, sanctuary of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, where the faithful rallied to the TV ministry despite the headline-making scandal, and followed Pat Robertson on the '88 presidential campaign trail. His itinerary included Oral Roberts University; charismatic prayer meetings; a Christian kindergarten; Jimmy Swaggart's missionary outpost in Honduras; and Mobile, Ala., where he investigated a textbook-banning controversy. (Feb.)