{"id":12672,"date":"2026-06-05T21:31:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T21:31:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12672"},"modified":"2026-06-05T21:31:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T21:31:55","slug":"defense-department-slashes-its-religious-designations-list-from-more-than-200-choices-to-31","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12672","title":{"rendered":"Defense Department slashes its religious designations list from more than 200 choices to 31"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By TIFFANY STANLEY<\/strong><\/p>\n

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The Department of Defense announced on Friday a significant reduction in the number of religious affiliations it officially recognizes.<\/p>\n

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The new list of 31 is down from more than 200 previously recognized traditions that troops could choose from. The list no longer includes atheists, Unitarian Universalists, pagans and Wiccans.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis decrease in religious affiliation codes is not designed to make any claims on the legitimacy of any faith or religious belief, nor is it intended to provide a list of \u2018officially approved\u2019 religions,\u201d Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement. \u201cRather, it is designed to allow chaplains to quickly look at the religious composition of their units and determine how they structure resources to best provide for warfighters of all faith groups.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parnell added the department values the free exercise of religion and chaplains facilitate service members\u2019 \u201cability to freely exercise their religion of choice, or no religion at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

The list creates broad categories of some Christian traditions \u2014 Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist \u2014 without specifying denominations within those traditions, which can span the theological and ideological spectrum.<\/p>\n

Service members can choose to identify as \u201cno religion,\u201d \u201cother religions\u201d or agnostic. Also included are Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism, the Baha\u2019i faith and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.<\/p>\n

The Unitarian Universalist Association, which was cut from the list, said in a statement, \u201cThis may make it more difficult for our uniformed UUs to access the spiritual care that they need.\u201d The denomination said it is working on a strategic response to support UU service members.<\/p>\n

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\n<\/div>\n

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has infused his evangelical Christianity with his leadership of the Pentagon, hosting worship services for employees and often speaking of the United States as a Christian nation.<\/p>\n

He first announced the impending changes to the faith categories in December, saying the large number of faith codes had become unmanageable.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecretary Hegseth is not \u2018streamlining\u2019 anything. He is elevating one narrow religious worldview from the top of the chain of command,\u201d said the Rev. Paul Raushenbush, a Baptist minister and head of the progressive Interfaith Alliance. \u201cThe First Amendment does not allow the government to create a hierarchy of faiths, and it certainly does not allow the Pentagon to decide which beliefs are worthy of recognition.\u201d<\/p>\n

The military is religiously diverse, and nearly 70% of troops identify as Christian, according to a 2019 congressional report. Almost a quarter of troops were listed as other, unclassified or unknown.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cAs a member of a minority religion, I think it\u2019s really important that we be counted,\u201d said Irene Glasse, a pagan religious professional and Marine Corp veteran. \u201cIt erases us, and so many of us have served so proudly, so well, and so honorably.\u201d<\/p>\n

AP reporter Konstantin Toropin contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP\u2019s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.<\/em><\/p>\n

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The list no longer includes atheists, Unitarian Universalists, pagans and Wiccans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12671,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-based-on-facts-either-observed-and-verified-directly-by-the-reporter-or-reported-and-verified-from-knowledgeable-sources","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nDefense Department slashes its religious designations list from more than 200 choices to 31 - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/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:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12672\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Defense Department slashes its religious designations list from more than 200 choices to 31 - 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