HOW TO SMEAR CHRISTIANS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING: That’s the title of a book review that just may be the most enjoyable and perceptive piece of such writing I’ve encountered in, well, a very long time.

Rebekah Curtis reviews “Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation,” by Kristin Kobes du Mez. You know instantly from its title what sort of vacuity is behind J&JW and so would never buy it.

But Curtis’ so reminds of the cat idly dallying with its soon-to-be-dinner mouse that her tongue-in-cheek review is a delight to read. For example:

“J&JW’s point is that white evangelicals (should we just call them whitevangelicals?) are not very good Christians. They prefer America to other countries, a horrifying inclination akin to liking your own dad better than other people’s dads.

“A conservative Baptist seminary seeks out faculty members who oppose women’s ordination, making them closed-minded and sexist. People who think having children is good and important show interest in the act by which children are conceived, believing that it may also be affected by questions of goodness and importance are the real perverts.”

There is much more not to be missed.