Pentagon Walks Back Latter-day Saints Church Classification After Pushback From Utah Lawmakers

The Pentagon on Monday revised its religious-affiliation policy, days after Utah lawmakers criticized newly released faith codes that omitted The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a Christian denomination.

“Last week, a proposed list of simplified faith codes was released to the media. The Pentagon list included redundant and unnecessary labeling, and the mistake has been fixed,” the Pentagon said in a statement posted to social media.

Earlier this year, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the Pentagon was cutting the number of faith groups on the list from over 200 to 31, a move that Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell called “long overdue.”

“This 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 ‘officially approved’ religions,” Parnell said in a post announcing the move last week. “Rather, 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.”

Faith codes are intended to provide more accurate demographic data on religious beliefs held among service members. But while more than 20 denominations were labeled as “Christian” in the initial update, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — widely known as the Mormon church — did not initially have that label, sparking backlash from LDS congressional members.

“I find this offensive, not just because that happens to be my faith, and not just because that happens to be the faith of tens of thousands of U.S. military personnel, but it’s 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,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said in a video posted to social media on Sunday.

Rep. Mike Kennedy (R-Utah) pointed out that Church members follow “the teachings of Christ,” while Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) said members “are among the most patriotic, service-oriented individuals in our country” and “unequivocally Christian.”

Early Monday morning, Lee posted that he had spoken with President Donald Trump to discuss “the Pentagon’s ‘Christian list’” and was “thrilled” about where things were heading.

Soon after, the Pentagon released new codes, now listing religious denominations by name rather than grouped under “Christian” categories.

“The Pentagon’s job is not to adjudicate theological debates, but instead to ensure sincerely-held faith is respected and encouraged in our ranks,” the Pentagon said Monday.

The move was applauded by lawmakers, with Curtis thanking Hegseth for “delivering a swift correction.”

In his own post thanking Hegseth for the correction, Kennedy said, “the government should not be in the business of deciding who counts as Christian.”

“Latter-day Saints and Christians of every tradition are united by our common commitment to the teachings of Christ, and we are stronger in that shared purpose,” he added.