# Democratic socialism is on the rise some places, but has roots in KY **Published:** 2026-07-16T16:05:58.000Z **Source:** [Kentucky Lantern](https://kentuckylantern.com/2026/07/16/democratic-socialism-is-on-the-rise-nationally-but-has-roots-in-ky/) **Republished from:** [Kentucky Lantern](https://kentuckylantern.com/2026/07/16/democratic-socialism-is-on-the-rise-nationally-but-has-roots-in-ky/) (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) **Canonical:** https://kentuckylantern.com/2026/07/16/democratic-socialism-is-on-the-rise-nationally-but-has-roots-in-ky/ By Berry Craig, [Kentucky Lantern](https://kentuckylantern.com) · July 16, 2026 [Democratic socialism](https://www.forwardky.com/the-surprising-rise-of-democratic-socialism/) is on the rise in some b[lue states](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/12/nyregion/dsa-young-voters-primary-ny.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share), but socialists are still rare in ruby red Republican Kentucky. That wasn’t always so. Six-score years ago, Louisville hosted the Christian Socialist Fellowship movement’s first national convention. The movement even spread to the Jackson Purchase, arguably Kentucky’s Trumpiest territory today. The CSF aimed “to perfect an organization of the ‘Christian people who believe in socialism,'” according to the June 18, 1906, Louisville Courier-Journal. Conservative evangelicals might rate “Christian Socialist” as the most oxymoronic of oxymorons. Nonetheless, the CSF hoped to “permeate churches, denominations, and other religious institutions with the social message of Jesus; to show that socialism is the necessary economic expression of Christian life; to end the class trouble by establishing industrial democracy, and to hasten the reign of justice and brotherhood on earth,” according to the June 19, 1906, C-J. The Christian socialists met in Liederkranz Hall with “delegates from many states…in attendance,” the paper reported on June 18. Speakers at the three-day gathering included the Rev. W.H. Ramsay of Louisville’s Unitarian Church. William A. Ward of Henderson was elected CSF treasurer. Delegates tapped for secretary Lucien V. Rule “whose Post Office is Goshen, but who is reckoned usually as a citizen of Louisville,” the C-J told its readers on June 19. The convention also featured outdoor speechmaking on the Jefferson County courthouse steps and at Third Avenue and Market Street. At the YMCA, the Rev. D.P. Bliss of New York City addressed the Louisville Ministerial Alliance, explaining the CSF’s aims and urging “that the Louisville Ministers co-operate with the Fellowship.” Christian socialism took root even in rural areas, including the Purchase, the state’s westernmost region. In 1911, Viola, in Graves County, [welcomed, or at least tolerated,](https://nkytribune.com/2016/10/old-time-kentucky-now-rare-as-a-may-blizzard-socialist-party-once-a-big-draw-in-graves-county/)a “Second Annual Summer Meeting of'” local Christian socialists, according to The Christian Socialist, the CSF newspaper. The rally, mostly held outdoors, followed a smaller 1910 get-together, apparently in a tobacco barn. The 1911 meeting lasted from July 30 to Aug. 6 and attracted a large crowd; 800 showed up for the closing session, The Christian Socialist reported. Meanwhile, in 1909, British socialist writer John Spargo wrote that the Christian Socialist Fellowship had organized meetings nationwide. In an article published in the July issue of the American Journal of Sociology, he added that “many of its most active members are equally active in the socialist party itself. Just prior to the last election, some 200 ministers, all in actual charge of parishes, and representing all the leading Protestant sects, signed a manifesto pledging themselves to the socialist cause, and it is said that upward of two thousand other ministers have signified their general sympathy and support.” There were Catholic Christian socialists, too, Spargo wrote. “When a bishop of the Protestant Episcopal church in America can carry the red card of membership in the socialist party, and when, as at the last convention in Chicago, delegates to the national convention of the socialist party, as loyal Catholics, without any shame or apology to any of their comrades, can go directly from mass to the work of shaping the policy of the socialist party, it is obvious that we are in the presence of a new socialism of a quality and temper undreamed of by Marx and Engels.” While the CSF faded away, there is an [Institute for Christian Socialism](https://christiansocialism.com/) whose website says the group’s mission is supporting “US churches, their members, and institutions in confronting the world’s captivity to capitalism and in claiming, embodying, and promoting the radical socialism of the Christian faith and life.” ICS Board Member C.R. Boardman said he doesn’t know of a direct connection to the CSF, but added, “we do consider ourselves in their lineage.” Election success by New York’s Democratic Mayor Zohran Mamdani and other Democrats who belong to the Democratic Socialists of America have given the vapors to T[rump and the MAGA faithful](https://www.axios.com/2026/06/30/trump-communism-red-scare-reboot-midterms) and driven centrist Democrats like [James Carville](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/james-carville-slams-democratic-socialists-these-people-are-so-fucking-stupid_n_6a52674ae4b08b2da68d4f1f) to the fainting couch. Trump and the GOP have resurrected old-time Cold War Red-baiting against the Democrats. “Republicans have had success since the McCarthy Witch Trials of the 1950s with simply accusing anyone with policies to the left of Hitler of being a socialist or a communist,” regular contributor Ivonne Rovira [wrote](https://www.forwardky.com/jesus-christ-super-socialist-2/)in Forward Kentucky. “That’s obviously no longer working. But that doesn’t mean folks won’t try.” In her post titled “Jesus Christ, Super Socialist,” she proposed a sure-fire response to the socialist slam from folks who lean leftward: “The next time someone calls you a socialist whether you’re actually in DSA or just a progressive, embrace it: make your face light up and say, ‘Thank you! I try to be a good Christian!'” ## Sources - [Kentucky Lantern](https://kentuckylantern.com/2026/07/16/democratic-socialism-is-on-the-rise-nationally-but-has-roots-in-ky/)