{"id":2106,"date":"2026-06-08T19:04:58","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T19:04:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2106"},"modified":"2026-06-08T19:04:58","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T19:04:58","slug":"pentagon-updates-list-of-recognized-religious-affiliations-after-backlash-from-mormon-lawmakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2106","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon updates list of recognized religious affiliations after backlash from Mormon lawmakers"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<button><br \/>\n<strong><br \/>\n<span><svg>\n<\/svg><br \/>\n<\/span><br \/>\n<span>Summary<\/span><br \/>\n<\/strong><br \/>\n<span><svg><\/svg><br \/>\n<\/span><br \/>\n<span><svg><\/svg><br \/>\n<\/span><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>The Pentagon revised its list of recognized religious affiliations for service members after criticism that Latter-day Saints were excluded from a list of Christian designations.<\/li>\n<li>Some lawmakers including Senator Mike Lee, who is a Mormon, objected to the original list that labeled 21 faiths as Christian but not followers of the Mormon church.<\/li>\n<li>Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth&#8217;s office adjusted the list so that faiths are not grouped.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div>\n<span>AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            The Pentagon has updated its list of verified religious affiliations for service members used in HR systems and removed the \u201cChristian\u201d designation from several faiths after facing backlash over the weekend that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was not designated as Christian.\n    <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2104\">Federal judge voids Trump\u2019s $100,000 fee requirement for H-1B visas<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n            A list shared online last week by Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell formalized 31 religious categories that service members could identify as \u2014 21 of which were identified as variations of Christianity.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was not identified as Christian, a fact immediately criticized by Mormon lawmakers including staunch Trump supporter Sen. Mike Lee.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cI think it\u2019s very unfortunate that the Pentagon has chosen to identify basically every faith group in America that professes faith in Jesus Christ as Christian with one exception: that is those belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,\u201d Lee said in a video posted online on Sunday. \u201cI find this offensive, not just because that happens to be my faith and not just because it happens to be the faith of tens of thousands of US military personnel, but it\u2019s also just repugnant to any sense of decency, any sense of our common heritage and our common belief that the government needs to not weigh in on doctrinal disputes between various religious denominations.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Another Republican Utah lawmaker, Rep. Mike Kennedy, called the Pentagon\u2019s list \u201cwrong\u201d and said it \u201cneeds to be corrected.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Monday, the Pentagon released a second version of the list, which removed the \u201cChristian\u201d identifier from the various faiths and denominations.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cThe Pentagon\u2019s job is not to adjudicate theological debates, but instead to ensure sincerely-held faith is respected and encouraged in our ranks,\u201d a post by the Pentagon\u2019s rapid response account on X said.\n    <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2100\">California, and the dangerous sudden resurgence of GOP voter fraud fever<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n            Lee welcomed the updated list of religious codes on Monday, saying he was \u201cgrateful\u201d to Hegseth \u201cfor correcting the error.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            The changes come as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has vowed to overhaul to the military\u2019s chaplain corps, saying in a video on social media in December that the chaplain corps has been \u201cdegraded\u201d and \u201cminimized\u201d in recent decades. He announced the changes to the military\u2019s religious codes in March this year, though the actual list itself wasn\u2019t released at the time.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Hegseth said the number of codes used by service members to identify their faiths had \u201cballooned to well over 200 faith codes,\u201d calling it \u201cimpractical and unusable.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cOur internal review committee recommend that going forward the department use 31 religious affiliation codes,\u201d Hegseth said. \u201cThis brings the codes in line with its original purpose, giving chaplains clear, usable information so they can minister to service members in a way that aligns with that service member\u2019s faith background and religious practice.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=2096\">Zika Virus Infection Fast Facts<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Pentagon has updated its list of verified religious affiliations for service members used in HR systems and removed the \u201cChristian\u201d designation from several faiths after facing backlash over the weekend that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was not designated as Christian.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2105,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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