Defense Department slashes its religious designations list from more
than 200 choices to 31
[June 06, 2026]
By TIFFANY STANLEY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Defense announced on Friday a
significant reduction in the number of religious affiliations it
officially recognizes.
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.
“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,” Pentagon
spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement. “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.”
Parnell added the department values the free exercise of religion and
chaplains facilitate service members' “ability to freely exercise their
religion of choice, or no religion at all.”
The list creates broad categories of some Christian traditions —
Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist — without specifying denominations
within those traditions, which can span the theological and ideological
spectrum.
Service members can choose to identify as “no religion,” “other
religions” or agnostic. Also included are Buddhism, Islam, Judaism,
Hinduism, Sikhism, the Baha’i faith and The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints.
The Unitarian Universalist Association, which was cut from the list,
said in a statement, "This may make it more difficult for our uniformed
UUs to access the spiritual care that they need.” The denomination said
it is working on a strategic response to support UU service members.
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Rows of gravestones stand at the Arlington National Cemetery in
Arlington, Va., May 13, 2014. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
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.
He first announced the impending changes to the faith categories in
December, saying the large number of faith codes had become
unmanageable.
“Secretary Hegseth is not ‘streamlining’ anything. He is elevating
one narrow religious worldview from the top of the chain of
command,” said the Rev. Paul Raushenbush, a Baptist minister and
head of the progressive Interfaith Alliance. “The 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.”
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.
“As a member of a minority religion, I think it’s really important
that we be counted,” said Irene Glasse, a pagan religious
professional and Marine Corp veteran. “It erases us, and so many of
us have served so proudly, so well, and so honorably.”
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AP reporter Konstantin Toropin contributed to this report.
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