{"id":1238,"date":"2026-06-08T19:07:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T19:07:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=1238"},"modified":"2026-06-08T19:07:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T19:07:14","slug":"pentagon-backtracks-on-religious-designations-after-mormon-outrage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=1238","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon backtracks on religious designations after Mormon outrage"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Responding to anger and outrage from Latter-day Saint leaders, veterans and elected officials, the Department of Defense backtracked on a new list of religious designations that cut the military\u2019s recognized faiths by 180 religions \u2014 from 211 to just 31 \u2014 and stripped the \u201cChristian\u201d label from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump\u2019s reckless impulsiveness sent one of his biggest goals down in flames<\/a><\/p>\n

The list, released on Friday, identified the 31 religions, citing 21 as Christian.<\/p>\n

That list drew anger over the weekend from Republican U.S. Senator Mike Lee, who said: \u201cAs of two days ago, the Pentagon recognizes every Christian faith in America as Christian.\u201d He added: \u201cExcept one,\u201d and said, \u201cThat\u2019s not okay, and it needs to change\u2014now.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a video, as CNN reported, Lee continued by saying: \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<\/p>\n

Lee called it \u201coffensive, 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<\/p>\n

Also over the weekend, Lee said he had called President Trump over the Pentagon\u2019s list.<\/p>\n

Just past noon on Monday, the Defense Department\u2019s Rapid Response social media account on X posted a new, updated list, which removes the Christian category.<\/p>\n

Read more Inside one of the Supreme Court\u2019s worst decisions ever: legal expert<\/a><\/p>\n

Defending the Pentagon, the post claimed that the \u201cgoal of this effort is to simplify a previously out-of-control \u2018belief\u2019 coding system that had ballooned to over 200 codes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Pentagon\u2019s job is not to adjudicate theological debates,\u201d it declared, \u201cbut instead to ensure sincerely-held faith is respected and encouraged in our ranks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other congressional members of the LDS Church had \u201cpreviously bashed the first list,\u201d The Hill reported.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Pentagon\u2019s decision to list The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints apart from other Christian faiths is wrong and needs to be corrected,\u201d U.S. Rep. Mike Kennedy (R-UT) wrote on X<\/u> on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Some remain dissatisfied.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis list is still a problem,\u201d wrote Hemant Mehta, who pens the Friendly Atheist on Substack. \u201cIt separates non-denominational Christians from evangelicals. It lumps together atheists and \u2018Nones\u2019 who believe in a higher power. It combines a bunch of smaller religions into \u2018Other.\u2019 The 2017 list was better. This is just ignorant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Trump launches \u2018unprecedented\u2019 new attack on US citizens<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Responding to anger and outrage from Latter-day Saint leaders, veterans and elected officials, the Department of Defense backtracked on a new list of religious designations that cut the military\u2019s recognized faiths by 180 religions \u2014 from 211 to just 31 \u2014 and stripped the \u201cChristian\u201d label from the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nPentagon backtracks on religious designations after Mormon outrage - Next Address America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=1238\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pentagon backtracks on religious designations after Mormon outrage - 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