From wrestlers to goths, a motley army of troubled young Americans is taking refuge in an evangelical fantasy-world of love and ignorance. Photographer Justin Lane captures the new faces of faith

Compare/Contrast Daniel Floyd, 21, an anti-abortion crusader, and Edward K. Hill, 19, a student at a Christian college closely allied with the Bush administration

For several months in 2005, photographer Justin Lane and his wife, author Lauren Sandler, immersed themselves in the rapidly growing evangelical youth crusade. They trekked from religious rodeos to fundamentalist colleges to the New Life megachurch in Colorado Springs where Pastor Ted Haggard preached his special brand of feel-good intolerance—until he came out of the closet this month as one of 2006's most accomplished hypocrites.

As candidly documented in Sandler's bestselling book, Righteous: Dispatches from the Evangelical Youth Movement, what the couple found was both poignant and frightening: Mounting evidence that America's youth, understandably repelled by a corrupt and overwhelming world, is falling prey to faith recruiters at rock concerts and skateboarder prayer sessions. Evangelicalism's oversimplifications comfort these kids. Its lip-service to "acceptance" welcomes them whether they're fat, pierced, albino, or pretty much anything except rational. It's all very cozy. And ominous: As Sam Harris, author of The End of Faith puts it, "Our children are gleefully preparing a bright future of ignorance and religious fascism for us all."

At every stop, Lane invited evangelicals to pose for his camera; the goal, to demonstrate just how all-inclusive this movement is. His even-handed portraits of faithful shredders and pious punk rockers explode the notion that all young Christians look like Mandy Moore. "I met some of the sweetest people I've ever photographed," he says. "Their beliefs are so strong it was sometimes hard not to think, 'What if they're right and I'm wrong?' But, ultimately, I'm someone who can't go on blind faith."

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