Hegseth to overhaul chaplain corps, toss ‘unacceptable’ Army spiritual fitness guide, 'streamline' list of recognized religions soldiers can have

I'm guessing Wicca will be out, and Alcoholism will be in as official religions. Oh, and the First Amendment; that's out. Can't have religious freedom for everybody.

I think an official Army program identified as a "spiritual fitness guide" is questionable. The Army should not have created a official "spiritual" program beyond what is available in the Chaplain Corps, because official military programs tend to gain "required for advancement" status. I'm okay with that being tossed.

Currently the religions for which the military requests chaplains is based on the population in the military service of those religions. The chaplaincy exists to balance two constitutional obligations that pull in opposite directions: The Free Exercise Clause so that service members must be able to practice their religion, even while deployed and the Establishment Clause; the government cannot endorse or promote a particular religion or any religion.

So the military does not certify doctrine or truth claims. Instead, it asks: Is this a bona fide religious organization, and are there enough service members to justify support? It's a bureaucratic decision, not a doctrinal decision. I would be troubled to see that equation changed. I expect a court battle if that equation changes.

It also bothers me what Hegseth has in mind of what a chaplain's duty is. The Chaplain Corps does perform more than religions duties, but also valuable general moral and mental support for all troops, regardless of the religious affiliation of either the specific chaplain or the specific troop. They are the "gateway" therapists that can carry a troop to more specific assistance.

The most valuable facet of chaplains, one that I used myself as a military leader of people, is that chaplains have absolute confidentiality. Nobody else in uniform has that. As a supervisor, I had to report to the commander. I carried an "Article 31" card in my wallet; this is the military version of the Fifth Amendment. If I were in a counseling session with a troop, and it sounded like the troop was about to confess to something incriminated, I'd have to pull out my Article 31 card and read it to them. If they told me something incriminating, I'd have to report it to the commander.

"Your" military doctor or lawyer has to report to the commander in the same way. Only chaplains have absolute confidentiality. That's been proven in court multiple times: Chaplains are not required to report on people they counsel...ever.

I set appoints with our unit chaplain for troops more than once. A good chaplain may even get further help for the troop outside military channels.

essentialsaltes said:

DOD Officially Drops 180 Faiths From Military's Recognized Religion List​

The reforms mark the first time the list has been officially revised since a memo was issued March 27, 2017, decreasing the total number of faiths from 211 to its new number of 31. The changes were iterated in a May 20, 2026, memorandum issued by the Under Secretary of War and signed by Anthony Tata, under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness of the United States, and obtained by Military.com.

This latest revision to the faith codes comes at the direction of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to the Tata-signed memo, done to “streamline the DoW collection of religious preferences collection for service members to enhance the delivery of targeted religious support from the Chaplaincy.” It calls for the previously instituted faith and belief codes to be revised within a 60-day period from the issuance of the memorandum.

Here is the full list:

• Agnostic (AN)
• Baha'i faith (BH)
• Buddhism (BU)
• Christian - Assemblies of God (AG)
• Christian - Baptist (BA)
• Christian - Brethren (BR)
• Christian - Catholic (CA)
• Christian - Church of Christ (CC)
• Christian - Church of God (CG)
• Christian - Church of the Nazarene (CN)
• Christian - Episcopal/Anglican (EA)
• Christian - Evangelical (EV)
• Christian - Jehovah's Witnesses (JW)
• Christian - Lutheran (LU)
• Christian - Methodist (ME)
• Christian - Non Denominational (ND)
• Christian - Orthodox (OX)
• Christian - Other (CO)
• Christian - Pentecostal (PE)
• Christian - Presbyterian (PR)
• Christian - Quaker (QU)
• Christian - Reformed (RE)
• Christian - Scientist (SC)
• Christian - Seventh Day Adventist (SA)
• Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (CJ)
• Hindu (HI)
• Islam (Muslim) (IS)
• Judaism (Jewish) (JU)
• No Religion (NR)
• Other Religions (OR)
• Sikh (SI)

(Looks like there's a really easy way to make the list a lot shorter if that's the goal.)

Click to expand...

I believe some of the christians in that list wouldn't count as christian following the rules of this forum.

essentialsaltes said:

Sens. Lee and Curtis question new Pentagon designation for Latter-day Saints​

Curtis said he would ask the Pentagon for a correction after the subhead ‘Christian’ was left off of the designation for the church​

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is included as a religious category on the updated list. But the faith was not included in the list of faiths labeled “Christian.”

Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, called the characterization “unacceptable.”

“Latter-day Saints are among the most patriotic, service-oriented individuals in our country. They are also unequivocally Christian — just look at who is in the name of the Church,” he said in a statement.

“It is unacceptable for a government entity to characterize a faith in a manner that contradicts the religion’s own foundational tenets. I am working now to ensure a correction is made.”

Click to expand...

Given the Christian Nationalist leadership behind the directive, that was a predictable point of conflict.

There have been some other issues that have already arisen between LDS and Hegseth that have already caused LDS leadership to begin to prickle.

My prediction is that this will lead to a significant drop in enlistments and re-enlistments. I won't be surprised if it also leads to a higher number of officers resigning their commissions.

essentialsaltes said:

Sens. Lee and Curtis question new Pentagon designation for Latter-day Saints​

Curtis said he would ask the Pentagon for a correction after the subhead ‘Christian’ was left off of the designation for the church​

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is included as a religious category on the updated list. But the faith was not included in the list of faiths labeled “Christian.”

Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, called the characterization “unacceptable.”

“Latter-day Saints are among the most patriotic, service-oriented individuals in our country. They are also unequivocally Christian — just look at who is in the name of the Church,” he said in a statement.

“It is unacceptable for a government entity to characterize a faith in a manner that contradicts the religion’s own foundational tenets. I am working now to ensure a correction is made.”

Click to expand...

The government has stepped in to evaluate which religions are “real” enough to maintain chaplaincies for those troops who identify as such. That’s not a tar-pit, no, not at all.

essentialsaltes said:

Sens. Lee and Curtis question new Pentagon designation for Latter-day Saints​

Curtis said he would ask the Pentagon for a correction after the subhead ‘Christian’ was left off of the designation for the church​

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is included as a religious category on the updated list. But the faith was not included in the list of faiths labeled “Christian.”

Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, called the characterization “unacceptable.”

“Latter-day Saints are among the most patriotic, service-oriented individuals in our country. They are also unequivocally Christian — just look at who is in the name of the Church,” he said in a statement.

“It is unacceptable for a government entity to characterize a faith in a manner that contradicts the religion’s own foundational tenets. I am working now to ensure a correction is made.”

Click to expand...

But why is it eating our faces?

So, the DOD has officially decided who is a Chrisian and who is not.

I suspect that it will take a couple of years before the Supreme Court decides whether the DOD has the power to decide whether Mormons are Christian and whether Unitarians are a legal faith denomination.

I suspect that the Court has decided on much of this in previously deciding whether Native American faith groups can be can considered a religious group under various laws. I suspect the same is true regarding Wiccans.

essentialsaltes said:

Sens. Lee and Curtis question new Pentagon designation for Latter-day Saints​

Curtis said he would ask the Pentagon for a correction after the subhead ‘Christian’ was left off of the designation for the church​

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is included as a religious category on the updated list. But the faith was not included in the list of faiths labeled “Christian.”

Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, called the characterization “unacceptable.”

“Latter-day Saints are among the most patriotic, service-oriented individuals in our country. They are also unequivocally Christian — just look at who is in the name of the Church,” he said in a statement.

“It is unacceptable for a government entity to characterize a faith in a manner that contradicts the religion’s own foundational tenets. I am working now to ensure a correction is made.”

Click to expand...

the way these guys are whining you'd think they deleted their entry completely. Instead the didn't just put "Christian-" in front of it (and they still manage to have the longest name on the list, LOL. If only they'd accept: "Christian - Mormon" or "Christian - LDS "