Pentagon Revises Religious Affiliation List After Criticism Over LDS Classification

"The Pentagon's job is not to adjudicate theological debates, but instead to ensure sincerely-held faith is respected and encouraged in our ranks." — Pentagon Rapid Response Account

The United States Department of Defense has updated its list of recognized religious affiliations for military service members after criticism regarding the classification of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The revised list removes the broad "Christian" grouping, and instead lists denominations individually.

Background

The Pentagon initially released a list of 31 religious categories, of which 21 were identified as variations of Christianity. In that version, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was not labeled as Christian.

The list was part of a broader effort by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to simplify an older system of more than 200 religious affiliation codes, which he described in March as "impractical and unusable."

Criticism

Several members of Congress from Utah criticized the original classification.

• Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah), a member of the church, stated that the government should not adjudicate doctrinal disputes.
• Representative Mike Kennedy (R-Utah) called the list "wrong."
• Senator John Curtis (R-Utah) described the original classification as "unacceptable."
• Other Utah representatives who criticized the list included Celeste Maloy and Burgess Owens.

"The government should not adjudicate doctrinal disputes." — Senator Mike Lee

Revisions

On Monday, the Pentagon released a revised version of the list. According to the Defense Department, the list released last week included "redundant and unnecessary labeling."

The updated list no longer groups denominations under a broad "Christian" category. Instead, denominations are listed individually, including:

• Baptists
• Catholics
• Lutherans
• Methodists
• Presbyterians
• Pentecostals
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The Pentagon's rapid response account on X stated: "The Pentagon's job is not to adjudicate theological debates, but instead to ensure sincerely-held faith is respected and encouraged in our ranks."

Reactions

Senator Mike Lee expressed gratitude to Defense Secretary Hegseth "for correcting the error."

Senator John Curtis thanked Pentagon officials for listening to concerns.

Senator Lee also stated that he had discussed the issue with President Trump and was optimistic about a resolution.

Separately, a post by Dan Shaha, shared by State Sen. Dan McCay, argued that listing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints separately could have practical advantages within the military chaplain system, potentially increasing dedicated Latter-day Saint chaplain positions.

Context

In December, Secretary Hegseth pledged to overhaul the military's chaplain corps, which he stated had been "degraded" and "minimized."

The revised list of faith codes was released after Hegseth announced in March that the number of codes would be reduced from over 200 to 31.