What’s Happening in Texas is a Moral Outrage

In Tom Stoppard’s play Jumpers, he penned the line: “It’s not the voting that’s democracy, it’s the counting.” In our democratic republic, the way in which votes are counted decides who represents us, whose votes matter. President Trump is currently working with allies in state legislatures across the country to change where votes in their states are counted, in an undemocratic attempt to maintain control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections by building on years of attacks on decades-old voter protection laws. For decades, elected officials have attempted to gerrymander districts in their respective states in order to maintain their party’s political power, but never has a president publicly strategized on how to use ad-hoc redistricting in order to maintain his political power. 

Typically, redistricting occurs every 10 years to ensure districts reflect the most recent census data. This practice is rooted in a notion central to U.S. democracy: making each person count. This value is not just an American one, it’s a religious one. Multiple traditions have stories about a census, but the oldest is likely from the Torah portion B’midbar, where God instructs Moses to conduct a census of the Jewish people in order to ensure every person is counted. 

The counting occurring in this moment does not resemble God’s instructions to Moses. President Trump’s efforts to usurp the midterm elections more closely resemble a story about King David, who is challenged to count his subjects by one of his opponents. King David does so in order to form an army for the purpose of conquest. This story continues with God punishing David for reducing human beings to objects for political use and personal gain. 

We live in a country where a president who calls himself a king is currently reducing human beings to objects for his own political gain. But in our secular democracy, we rely on the moral courage of our leaders, our neighbors, and ourselves. Just this week, Texas politicians left the state in order to prevent their state legislative bodies from achieving quorum, which would have allowed the majority party to force through new Congressional districts publicly demanded by President Trump. Americans across the country are speaking out, telling their political leaders to check this attempt to secure an election before it happens. At Interfaith Alliance, we are showing up in solidarity with political leaders challenging this antidemocratic effort and people of diverse faiths and beliefs across the United States because we know that true representation is predicated on truly counting each individual, not turning our neighbors into tools for political gain. 

The views and beliefs expressed in this post and all Interfaith Alliance blogs are those held by the author of each respective piece. To learn more about the organizational views, policies and positions of Interfaith Alliance on any issues, please contact info@interfaithalliance.org.

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