Defense Dept. excludes Latter-day Saints from ‘Christian’ category
Published By admin
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The Defense Department slashed its religious designations list from over 200 choices to only 31 — a major reduction in the number of religious affiliations it officially recognizes.
In doing so, the department reclassified The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, listing it outside the “Christian” category.
An official memorandum from the Defense Dept. states that the action will streamline the department’s collection of religious preferences selection for service members to “enhance targeted religious support from the Chaplaincy.”
On social media, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell called the move “long overdue” and in line with “returning to the original intent of collecting this data.”
Here is the new official list of the Defense Dept.’s categorization of religious affiliation:
AN — Agnostic
BH — Baha’i faith
BU — Buddhism
AG — Christian – Assemblies of God
BA — Christian – Baptist
BR — Christian – Brethren
CA — Christian – Catholic
CC — Christian – Church of Christ
CG — Christian – Church of God
CN — Christian – Church of the Nazerene
EA — Christian – Episcopal/Anglican
EV — Christian – Evangelical
JW — Christian – Jehovah’s Witnesses
LU — Christian – Lutheran
ME — Christian – Methodist
ND — Christian – Non Denominational
OX — Christian – Orthodox
CO — Christian – Other
PE — Christian – Pentecostal
PR — Christian – Presbytarian
QU — Christian – Quaker
RE — Christian – Reformed
SC — Christian – Scientist
SA — Christian – Seventh Day Adventist
CJ — Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
HI — Hindu
IS — Islam (Muslim)
JU — Judaism (Jewish)
NR — No Religion
OR — Other Religions
SI — Sikh
Notably, the new list no longer includes atheists, Unitarian Universalists, pagans, and Wiccans, according to the Associated Press. In total, 180 religious faiths were dropped from the list.
Utahns react
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) took to X Saturday morning, saying, “Can anyone tell me why The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was left out of the list of Christian churches?”
He added later, “I’m a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. My church membership is inextricably intertwined with my Christianity, as it is for 17 million other Latter-day Saints. Regardless of what the Pentagon thinks.”
Senator John Curtis (R-UT) also posted on X, stating, “Latter-day Saints are among the most patriotic, service-oriented individuals in our country. They are also unequivocally Christian—just look at who is in the name of the Church. It is unacceptable for a government entity to characterize a faith in a manner that contradicts the religion’s own foundational tenets. I am working now to ensure a correction is made.”
Eric Biggart, chair of LDS Dems Caucus, said the only surprising factor was how long the change took. “For us on the left, it’s like yeah, of course the Trump Administration doesn’t believe in our version of Christianity. That’s been clear to us for ten years now… Allowing the Department of War to just define what Christianity is in modern American politics is pretty much a perfect summation of what the whole era of Trump has been for this last decade.”
Biggart added, “I’m kind of not bothered by it because their version of Christianity that they’re practicing is not one that myself or people like myself ascribe to anyway. Whatever they want to call it, go for it because our version of the church remains to be the stuff we’re going to go do in Church on Sunday, which is helping people in need, which is I’m going to go substitute in the primary, and help the kids who need a little extra attention.”
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints told ABC4.com that they do not have a statement on the matter at this time.
More leaders from the state are expected to react to the change. Stay tuned with ABC4.com for more.
Content retrieved from: https://www.abc4.com/news/religion/church-jesus-christ-reclassification/.
