Heaven Has a Wall

An urgent exploration of borders as sacred objects in American culture. Our national conversation about the border has taken a religious turn. When televangelists declare, 'Heaven has a wall,' activists shout back, 'Jesus was a refugee.' For Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, the standoff makes explicit a longstanding truth: borders are religious as well as political objects. In this book, Hurd argues that Americans share a bipartisan border religion, complete with an array of beliefs and practices, including a reverence for national security, a liturgy for immigration, and an eschatological foreign policy. Through an analysis of the many ways the United States creates, enforces, and ignores borders at home and abroad, Hurd offers a bold new perspective on the ties that bind American religion, politics, and public life.