Pentagon Revises Religious Classification List After Backlash From Mormon Lawmakers
The controversy emerged after an earlier version of the updated classification system reportedly failed to identify the LDS Church as a Christian denomination. This came after the Department of Defense reduced its list of faith codes from more than 200 categories to 31.
The revised list, which was released on Friday, labeled several denominations as Christian but did not explicitly include the LDS Church under that designation, prompting objections from Mormon lawmakers.
The original system, introduced in 2017, was designed to help military chaplains understand the religious composition of service members and comply with a congressional mandate issued in 2013.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated in March that the previous classification framework had become “impractical and unusable,” leading to the consolidation of categories.
Following criticism, the Pentagon issued a further revision on Monday, removing the word “Christian” from all denominational labels rather than singling out any specific group.
Lawmakers from Utah strongly criticized the initial omission. Senator Mike Lee described it as “offensive” and “repugnant,” urging officials to correct what he viewed as a serious misclassification. Representative Mike Kennedy also stated that the list was “wrong” and needed correction.
After publishing the updated version on X, the Pentagon clarified that the earlier document was only a draft proposal containing “redundant and unnecessary labeling,” and said the issue had since been resolved.
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