{"id":58726,"date":"2026-07-30T13:02:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T13:02:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/58726\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T13:02:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T13:02:32","slug":"religion-motivates-data-center-opposition-in-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/58726\/","title":{"rendered":"Religion motivates data center opposition in Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. See our AI policy<\/a>, and give us feedback<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Matt Long stood before the Granbury City Council at an April zoning meeting to oppose the influx of proposed data centers in Hood County, likening them to a spiritual abomination.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d consider us a Christian city inside a Christian county,\u201d said Long, a member of the county\u2019s development commission who lives near Granbury. \u201cAs Christians, do we think that trading 2,100 acres of natural beauty for godless technological complexes is moving us closer to the creation, or further away?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo we think that entering into negotiations with Google, Meta and Amazon are closer to making a covenant with God, or making a deal with the devil?\u201d he asked the council. <\/p>\n

Christians, Long concluded to applause, must stand up to data centers. <\/p>\n

Controversy surrounding data center construction has roiled Texas in recent months, fostering a bipartisan coalition of opposition, particularly among<\/a> rural and suburban residents. With at least 248 planned data center projects<\/a> and 335 in operation, Texas is poised to become a leader in data center development. <\/p>\n

Opposition has also coalesced around religious appeals from a theologically diverse group of residents, leaders and politicians who see data center development as an affront to their most sacred values.<\/p>\n

Much of the opposition<\/a> focuses on environmental impact and the large amounts of water and power needed by massive facilities that operate AI applications.<\/p>\n

Clayton Tucker, a Democrat running for Texas agriculture commissioner, is a leader in the anti-data center movement. A Catholic, he wonders if data centers are akin to the apple in the Garden of Eden.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we take a bite of that apple of knowledge, is that what\u2019s going to kick us out of this blue marble of Eden \u2026 that we call Earth?\u201d Tucker said.<\/p>\n

\"AgricultureAgriculture commissioner candidate Clayton Tucker speaks at a rally against data center development in Texas on the Capitol grounds in Austin on July 27, 2026. Kaylee Greenlee for The Texas Tribune<\/p>\n

Religion isn\u2019t solely the domain of the opposition. Texas Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian<\/a>, a Republican, said he supports data center construction because \u201cthroughout history, Christians have embraced innovations that improve lives, from the printing press to modern medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should approach data centers the same way: embracing their benefits while ensuring they\u2019re built responsibly,\u201d Christian said in a statement. <\/p>\n

For Long, biblical passages such as Daniel Chapter 2 and Revelation Chapter 13 reveal that there are spiritual implications to replacing God\u2019s creation \u201cwith things created by man.\u201d <\/p>\n

The books of Daniel and Revelation, known as apocalyptic literature, have been interpreted in some theological circles as warnings about the misuse of technology \u2014 such as artificial intelligence \u2014\u00a0in ways that threaten God\u2019s intended order and vastly increase the government\u2019s ability to conduct surveillance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re going to be able to track where we go, they\u2019re going to track our money. \u2026 You\u2019re going to have to essentially stay in line socially,\u201d said Long, who believes this generation will be judged by its response to data centers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just don\u2019t want to read that everybody complied, everybody gave in, everybody quit. I want to hear about this small contingent of people that stood on their principles, that saw it coming from a mile away, and said, \u2018We\u2019re not budging,\u2019\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Joseph Locke, a professor of Texas and American religious history at the University of North Texas, said he was not surprised that Texans were making religious arguments against data centers. <\/p>\n

\u201cTexans have often drawn on religion when they want to enact social or political change,\u201d he said in a statement, adding that \u201cthe rhetoric of spiritual warfare is pretty common, especially among today\u2019s Christian nationalists and their conservative allies.\u201d <\/p>\n

Long has hosted well-attended prayer meetings in his home and taken his fight online, where he is not alone. Religious arguments are a periodic feature of comments on several dozen Facebook groups<\/a> dedicated to opposing data center development. <\/p>\n

Last month, Clarendon resident Maria Miller asked members<\/a> of the Texans United Against Data Centers Facebook group to pray against data centers. <\/p>\n

Miller said she sees parallels between the rapid development of data centers and the story of the end times told in the Book of Revelation at the end of the New Testament. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of a no-brainer,\u201d she said in an interview. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople of faith feel a moral duty\u201d<\/p>\n

Not all religiously grounded opposition sees data centers as apocalyptic or part of a larger cosmic battle between good and evil. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople of faith feel a moral duty to make sure that people have the things they need to live lives of dignity and thriving, and so water and energy are really important for that,\u201d said Rev. Dr. Becca Edwards of the interfaith policy advocacy group Texas Impact<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re called to be stewards of creation, which means caring for the world as God does. And I think what we see in the creation story is that the world was created to be a place of fruitfulness and plenty,\u201d Edwards said.<\/p>\n

Locke said many Texans have drawn on their faith \u201cto attack inequalities, provide for the needy and, yes, advocate for environmental protections.\u201d <\/p>\n

In addition, conservative Christians have been \u201cgenerally supportive of Texas\u2019 conservative economic and environmental policies,\u201d Locke said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe oil industry, for instance, has long been wed to conservative Christianity,\u201d he said. \u201cBilly Graham was backed by Texas oilmen, and George W. Bush, who helped bring Texas\u2019 religious politics to Washington, D.C., was rooted in the oil industry.\u201d <\/p>\n

Texas churches also spoke out against inequality during the Gilded Age \u2014 a late 19th-century period of rapid industrial growth that produced extreme wealth inequality, Locke said. Evangelical leaders \u201chelped to organize the Populist revolt of the 1880s and 1890s\u201d and others \u201curged Texans to see the sins of our economic system,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTexas\u2019 conservative Christian nationalism may win the most headlines, but Texas religion contains multitudes,\u201d Locke said. <\/p>\n

Tucker, the Democratic candidate for agriculture commissioner, is a fifth-generation Texan who ties his campaign to Texas\u2019 populist movement<\/a> and focuses on issues that receive the most petition signatures on his website. <\/p>\n

A petition on data center development has been a top performer, and as long as it remains popular, \u201cthat\u2019s gonna be our top issue,\u201d Tucker said while driving between anti-data center meetings, many of them held in churches. <\/p>\n

\u201cHad you told me a year ago that running for agriculture commissioner, I\u2019d be talking mostly about data centers, I would have looked at you funny,\u201d he said, adding that the facilities\u2019 high-volume water use caught his eye. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf we run out of water, nothing else really matters,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"MattMatt Long shakes hands with attendees while holding a sign that says \u201cThis is insane\u201d at a Hood County Commissioners Court meeting in Granbury on Feb. 23, 2026. Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune<\/p>\n

Long, who identifies as a conservative-leaning libertarian, said Tucker, although a Democrat, is \u201cthe only politician that is saying anything negative about data centers.\u201d Older Republicans, he added, \u201cdon\u2019t understand, like, the good versus evil fight that I believe we\u2019re in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Polls show in many cases opposition to data centers transcends political partisanship. According to a June poll by the Texas Politics Project<\/a>, 71% of registered Texas Democrats and 44% of registered Texas Republicans oppose data centers, with only 14% of Republicans strongly in support. National polls indicate even greater bipartisan alignment: a May Gallup survey<\/a> found that 63% of Republicans and 75% of Democrats oppose data centers.<\/p>\n

Long said he\u2019s also found himself in a surprising alliance over data centers with some \u201cliberal white women.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the meeting \u2026 we\u2019re hugging, and we\u2019re all on the same page, trying to fight this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHumanity over injury and profit\u201d<\/p>\n

Elizabeth Dempsey Beggs, a Democrat running for the U.S. House in Virginia, called opposition to data centers a \u201cunifying factor\u201d that crosses political lines. Virginia is home to the world\u2019s largest data center market, with about 685 operating or planned<\/a>, and Texas advocates have looked to the state as a cautionary tale.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guarantee you Jesus would be outside right now flipping tables,\u201d Beggs said in a recent public testimony<\/a> against data centers. <\/p>\n

People \u201cdeserve a place that is safe to raise their children, and we know the harm that data centers are doing,\u201d Beggs said in an interview. \u201cThat\u2019s not something you can tolerate as a mother, as a citizen, and as a Christian.\u201d<\/p>\n

Long, who has nine children, said in testimony<\/a> earlier this year that data centers create \u201ca sacrificial zone\u201d that negatively harms children. It is ironic, he said, that Hood County adopted a \u201csanctuary for the unborn\u201d ordinance while not being a sanctuary for the born. <\/p>\n

\"\"Hood County commissioners bow their heads in prayer at the beginning of a Hood County Commissioners Court meeting in Granbury on Feb. 24, 2026. The meeting included a vote on a moratorium that would pause construction of eight proposed data centers. Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune<\/p>\n

Some Jewish leaders have also based their opposition on religious grounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the core of most religious traditions is a recognition of the sanctity of life and humanity over injury and profit,\u201d Rabbi Jennie Rosenn of the Jewish climate advocacy group Dayenu<\/a> said in a statement. <\/p>\n

Rosenn said data centers are an affront to Judaism\u2019s most foundational teachings of \u201clife, not death (bacharta bahayim), protect creation (shomrei adamah), pursue justice (tirdof tzedek), not waste (bal tashchit), protect the most vulnerable (shomer ger yatom v\u2019almanah), and ensure that life can continue l\u2019dor v\u2019dor (from generation to generation).\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this sounds like Judaism\u2019s greatest hits, it\u2019s because it is,\u201d Rosenn continued. \u201cThat is how fundamentally the explosive growth of data centers across our nation threatens the values we \u2014 and many other people of faith \u2014 hold most dear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jane Bannor, treasurer of Unitarian Universalists for a Just Economic Community, a progressive advocacy group, said Unitarian Universalists around the nation are calling for moratoriums on data center construction based on a \u201crespect for the interdependent web of life of which we are all a part.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to see businesses benefit not just corporate shareholders, but also the surrounding population,\u201d Bannor said.<\/p>\n

Tucker hopes religious-based opposition can affect the data center debate in Texas. <\/p>\n

Faith appeals carry extra weight, he said, \u201cwhen you can kind of tie [data centers] to those stories that are foundational to Christianity, that are foundational to a lot of our worldviews.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"FlowersFlowers are silhouetted against lights from the Stargate data center in Abilene on May 2, 2026. Jon Shapley for The Texas Tribune<\/p>\n

This story is published through a collaboration between The Texas Tribune and Religion News Service<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Disclosure: Amazon, Facebook, Google, Meta and University of North Texas have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in The Texas Tribune\u2019s journalism. Find a complete\u00a0list of them here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t