On May 20, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Anthony Tata signed a memo that revised the military’s religious affiliation codes by removing 180 recognized religions. Most of the revised list removes Christian denominations, as well as Druid, Pagan, Asatru, deist, Eckankar, Heathen, humanist, Magick, New Age church, Rosicrucianism, shaman, spiritualist, Troth, Wiccan, and Unitarian Universalists faiths.
Without evidence, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell claimed that the previous list of recognized religions was “unmanageable.” This is despite the fact that it caused no problems within the military. The Pentagon did not specify what “other religions” implied. The separate denominations of Judaism and Islam were not catalogued.
Parnell also lied when he stated that the list does not “make any claims on the legitimacy of any faith or religious belief…” It did exactly that when it failed to describe the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as Christian. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth may have been influenced by evangelical pastor Doug Wilson, whom he invited to speak. Wilson does not believe that Mormons are Christian. Senators John Curtis and Mike Lee both denounced this exclusionary policy.
“It is unacceptable for a government entity to characterize a faith in a manner that contradicts the religion’s own foundational tenets,” Curtis wrote on X on Saturday.
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Facing immense backlash from this measure, the Pentagon released a new list on June 8 that removed the “Christian” descriptor from all religions, removing the implied theological argument.
Hegseth has referenced his own Christian faith a number of times as Defense Secretary. The co-founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, Mikey Weinstein, expressed fears that this move to delegitimize other religions was unconstitutional, undermined the separation of church and state, and impose Christian nationalism on our secular, volunteer military.
