The Pentagon has cut its recognized faith codes from more than 200 categories to 31 and no longer classifies mormons in the Christian category. The change, first described in a May memo and reported by Military.com, has drawn criticism from Utah Republicans and Latter-day Saint leaders who say the church should not have been separated from other Christian faiths.
The new policy also folds some religions into broader labels such as Muslim or evangelical Christian, while moving numerous others into a general other religions category. Sean Parnell said the change was designed to help chaplains gather information on how to serve members of common religions within their units, and that it was not meant to judge any faith’s legitimacy.
May memo and 31 codes
The revised list is a sharp reduction from the military’s previous system, which used more than 200 faith categories. Under the new structure, the Defense Department eliminated many separate classifications entirely and collapsed others into broader groupings, leaving 31 recognized codes.
That change places The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the center of the dispute. Republican Rep. Mike Kennedy said the Pentagon’s decision to list the church apart from other Christian faiths is wrong and needs to be corrected. He added: “No one needs to wonder where members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stand,” and “We stand with Christ. We are Christians.”
Kennedy also said, “We only ask to be accurately portrayed,” and “I strongly urge the Department to correct the record.”
Utah Republicans respond
Sen. John Curtis said church members are “among the most patriotic, service-oriented individuals in our country,” and added that Latter-day Saints are “unequivocally Christian — just look at who is in the name of the Church.” In a separate post, he said, “It is unacceptable for a government entity to characterize a faith in a manner that contradicts the religion’s own foundational tenets,” and added, “I am working now to ensure a correction is made.”
Eric Biggart, chair of the LDS Dems Caucus, said the change did not surprise him. “For us on the left, it’s like, yeah, of course the Trump Administration doesn’t believe in our version of Christianity,” he said in an interview with ABC4. “That’s been clear to us for 10 years now.”
Jenna Carson, a Latter-day Saint and former Air Force active-duty chaplain, said, “We’re all confused about it,” and John Compere, a retired general and board member of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said the changes were about “partisan political purposes.” He also said, “Such detrimental action damages the morale of our troops and degrades their freedom of religion provided by the United States Constitution, Department of Defense directives and Armed Forces regulations.”
Parnell responded on Sunday that the policy was “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.” For service members and chaplains, the practical shift is the code list itself: fewer named categories, broader grouping for some faiths, and no separate Christian classification for the church now at the center of the dispute.
Sean Parnell defense
The dispute now turns on whether the Pentagon will change the list again after the push from Kennedy, Curtis and others. Parnell’s explanation puts chaplain data collection at the center of the policy, while critics are pressing for a correction that would restore the church to the Christian category.
