Pentagon revises religious classifications amid backlash from LDS Church

Published June 9, 2026 By admin

WASHINGTON – The Pentagon has revamped a list of religious faiths and traditions it uses to provide services to military members after Mormon Republican lawmakers blasted the agency for not classifying the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as Christian.

In a June 8 statement, the agency said the recent update to its categorization of religious affiliations “included redundant and unnecessary labeling.” The list, confirmed by the Pentagon last week, reduced the number of recognized faith codes from more than 200 to 30. Of the religions included, 21 were labeled “Christian.” The LDS Church was put in a separate category.

Utah Sens. Mike Lee and John Curtis and Rep. Mike Kennedy, all of whom are Mormon, excoriated the move on social media, calling it deeply offensive.

“The Pentagon’s decision to list the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints apart from other Christian faiths is wrong and needs to be corrected,” Kennedy wrote in a June 7 post.

Lee said in a June 8 social media post that he spoke with President Donald Trump about concerns with the characterization. Hours after Lee’s post, the Pentagon walked back its original decision, saying the “mistake has been fixed.”

However, it is not labeling the LDS Church as “Christian.” Instead, the agency is removing the “Christian” labeling from other religions. The updated list of recognized faiths also removed “Christian – Other.”

“The goal of this effort is to simplify a previously out-of-control ‘belief’ coding system that had ballooned to over 200 codes,” the Pentagon said in the statement.

Members of the LDS Church affirm they are Christian. However, according to the church’s website, some other Christian denominations, including evangelical groups, do not see the LDS Church as Christian and have described it as a cult.

Read full article at link below

Content retrieved from: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/06/08/pentagon-lds-church-reclassification/90457626007/.