The US Department of Defense has significantly streamlined its list of officially recognized religious affiliations for military personnel, reducing over 200 categories to just 31, which now excludes groups like atheists, Unitarian Universalists, pagans, and Wiccans, though service members can still identify as "no religion," agnostic, or "other religions." Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell stated this overhaul is intended to help chaplains manage resources efficiently by quickly assessing unit composition, not to judge the legitimacy of any belief system, and emphasized continued support for religious freedom, including the exercise of "no religion at all." Despite this explanation, the move has drawn criticism from faith leaders and minority religious groups who express concern that it could hinder access to spiritual support and proper representation for members of smaller belief communities, with some alleging it elevates a specific religious worldview, contradicting First Amendment principles. The revision also involves consolidating numerous Christian denominations into broader categories, aligning with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's previously stated goal of simplifying an unwieldy list, a decision that critics argue effectively erases minority faiths and creates a hierarchy of recognized beliefs.

The US Department of Defense has significantly streamlined its list of officially recognized religious affiliations for military personnel, reducing over 200 categories to just 31, which now excludes groups like atheists, Unitarian Universalists, pagans, and Wiccans, though service members can still identify as "no religion," agnostic, or "other religions." Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell stated this overhaul is intended to help chaplains manage resources efficiently by quickly assessing unit composition, not to judge the legitimacy of any belief system, and emphasized continued support for religious freedom, including the exercise of "no religion at all." Despite this explanation, the move has drawn criticism from faith leaders and minority religious groups who express concern that it could hinder access to spiritual support and proper representation for members of smaller belief communities, with some alleging it elevates a specific religious worldview, contradicting First Amendment principles. The revision also involves consolidating numerous Christian denominations into broader categories, aligning with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's previously stated goal of simplifying an unwieldy list, a decision that critics argue effectively erases minority faiths and creates a hierarchy of recognized beliefs.

The US Department of Defense has significantly streamlined its list of officially recognized religious affiliations for military personnel, reducing over 200 categories to just 31, which now excludes groups like atheists, Unitarian Universalists, pagans, and Wiccans, though service members can still identify as "no religion," agnostic, or "other religions." Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell stated this overhaul is intended to help chaplains manage resources efficiently by quickly assessing unit composition, not to judge the legitimacy of any belief system, and emphasized continued support for religious freedom, including the exercise of "no religion at all." Despite this explanation, the move has drawn criticism from faith leaders and minority religious groups who express concern that it could hinder access to spiritual support and proper representation for members of smaller belief communities, with some alleging it elevates a specific religious worldview, contradicting First Amendment principles. The revision also involves consolidating numerous Christian denominations into broader categories, aligning with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's previously stated goal of simplifying an unwieldy list, a decision that critics argue effectively erases minority faiths and creates a hierarchy of recognized beliefs.

The US Department of Defense has removed atheists from the list of religious affiliations it officially recognises for military personnel as part of a major overhaul that has reduced the number of officially recognised faith categories.

The Pentagon has cut the number of recognised religious affiliation codes from more than 200 to just 31. The revised list no longer includes atheists, Unitarian Universalists, pagans and Wiccans, according to news agency AP.

The move has sparked criticism from some faith leaders and minority religious groups, who pointed out that the changes could make it harder for service members from smaller belief communities to access spiritual support and be properly represented within the military.

Defending the decision, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said the revised list was not intended to judge the legitimacy of any religion or belief system.

"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 statement.

He explained that the streamlined list is intended to help military chaplains quickly understand the religious composition of their units and organise resources accordingly.

"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," he said.

Parnell also stressed that the department continues to support religious freedom within the armed forces.

"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," he added.

Under the new system, service members can still identify as "no religion", "other religions" or agnostic. The recognised list also includes Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism, the Baha'i faith and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Pentagon has also grouped several Christian traditions into broader categories such as Baptist, Presbyterian and Methodist, instead of listing numerous denominations separately.

The changes come as Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth continues to bring his evangelical Christian beliefs into his leadership of the Pentagon. Hegseth has hosted worship services for employees and has frequently spoken of the United States as a Christian nation.

He first announced plans to reduce the number of religious affiliation codes in December, arguing that the existing list had become too large and difficult to manage.

The decision has drawn criticism from religious and civil liberties advocates.

"Secretary Hegseth is not streamlining anything. He is elevating one narrow religious worldview from the top of the chain of command," said 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," he added.

The Unitarian Universalist Association, which was removed from the list, warned that the changes could affect the support available to its members serving in uniform.

"This may make it more difficult for our uniformed UUs to access the spiritual care that they need," the organisation said, adding that it was developing a strategy to support affected service members.

Criticism also came from members of minority faith groups within the military community.

"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 Corps veteran. "It erases us, and so many of us have served so proudly, so well, and so honorably."

According to a 2019 congressional report, nearly 70 per cent of US military personnel identify as Christian, while almost a quarter are classified as other, unclassified or unknown, reflecting the broad religious diversity within the armed forces.

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