Pentagon Revises Religious Categories After Utah Lawmakers Push Back on LDS Labeling

The Pentagon revised its religious categories for military chaplains after pushback from Utah lawmakers over The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints not being labeled "Christian."

“Topline The Pentagon on Monday published an updated list of religious affiliations, backtracking days after Mormon lawmakers expressed outrage at a revamped list the Defense Department published last Friday—which didn’t list the LDS church under a subcategory for “Christian” denominations”

Forbes

KSL News said the Department of War updated its list again on Monday, removing the "Christian" classifications from other faith groups such as Catholic, Baptist and evangelical.

Forbes

The Pentagon said on X that the earlier proposed list included "redundant and unnecessary labeling" and that "the mistake has been fixed," while also saying its job is "not to adjudicate theological debates."

Forbes reported the Pentagon had narrowed the list to 31 codes after reducing more than 200 religious affiliation codes, and that the LDS church had been placed outside a subcategory for "Christian" denominations in the earlier version.

The dispute centered on how the Pentagon categorized the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints within military personnel records, with Utah lawmakers pressing for a correction after the initial list was published last Friday.

Sen. John Curtis said it was "unacceptable for a government entity to characterize a faith in a manner that contradicts the religion's own foundational tenets," after the initial Pentagon list separated the LDS church from mainstream Christian denominations.

KSL News also quoted Sen. Mike Lee praising the correction after the Pentagon updated the list, saying he was "grateful to (Secretary of War Pete Hegseth) for correcting the error" and thanking the Department of War for "delivering a swift correction."

KSL News

Forbes said Lee had insisted the president "loves Latter-day Saints" after he spoke with President Donald Trump about the Mormon exclusion.

The Pentagon’s Rapid Response account, as quoted by KSL News, said the Pentagon’s job is "not to adjudicate theological debates, but instead to ensure sincerely-held faith is respected and encouraged in our ranks."

KUTV reported Curtis announced the change Monday morning, thanking Pentagon officials for listening to concerns from Utah’s elected officials and sharing the Department of War’s statement that "the mistake has been fixed."

The revised Pentagon approach, as described by KUTV, removed the broad "Christian" category for denominations and instead listed denominations individually, including Baptists, Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“Pentagon revises religious classification list after Utah lawmakers push for change SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Pentagon officials revised the new religious classification list after several days of criticism from Utah lawmakers”

KUTV

KSL News said the Pentagon’s update removed "Christian" labels from groups like Catholic, Baptist and evangelical, while the updated list still did not explicitly identify the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as such.

Forbes reported the Pentagon’s Monday list eliminated the "Christian" subcategory altogether and listed denominations like Catholic, Lutheran and Evangelical without the "Christian" moniker preceding them.

KSL News said Utah lawmakers were in contact with the Pentagon or the administration in recent days, and Lee posted late Sunday that he had spoken with President Donald Trump about the list.

The dispute also touched on how the Pentagon’s chaplain support is supposed to work, with KUTV quoting the Department of War’s statement that the effort aimed to simplify what had become an extensive list of more than 200 religious affiliation codes used by the military.