Quotes from Kevin M. Kruse

The vision of the US-Mexico border as a line that divides rather than unites is a dark one. It is fueled by a small measure of truth—because, of course, like most other regions, crime and criminals have found a haven in the borderlands—but a much larger degree of paranoia, racism, misunderstanding, and nationalist mythmaking.

The Utah Power & Light Company, meanwhile, cut right to the chase in a full-page ad with the alarmist headline "How many 'Independence Days' have we left?" The utility company implored readers to "pray for help in maintaining man's closeness to God, in preserving man's God-given rights and responsibilities against those who would make you dependent upon a socialistic, all-powerful government." 53

And nearly all socialists, like most other Oklahomans, were devout Christians. They flocked to yearly encampments that blended a faith in Jesus with a belief in socialism. At one gathering, a preacher proclaimed, "Christ's church was a working class church" and cited the verse from Ecclesiastes that decrees "the Profit of the Earth is for all."5

Working in lockstep to advance Christian libertarianism, these three movements effectively harnessed Cold War anxieties for an already established campaign against the New Deal.

It is at least worth asking whether a $20 billion outlay for the construction of a border wall that, as a performative gesture, might make some Americans feel that their concerns about undocumented immigration are being addressed is justifiable when so many other needs go unmet.

And conservatives who view socialism as unpatriotic might also ponder why Francis Bellamy, author of the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag in 1892, was an avowed Christian socialist.