Pentagon revises religious affiliation list after backlash from Mormon lawmakers

The Pentagon has revised a list of recognized religious affiliations after criticism from members of the Mormon Church.

An earlier version did not identify The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also known as the Mormon Church as a Christian denomination, according to ABC News.

The controversy followed the Pentagon’s decision to cut its list of faith codes from more than 200 to 31. The updated list, released Friday, labeled 21 denominations as Christian but did not apply that description to the LDS church, prompting backlash from Mormon lawmakers.

The original list of more than 200 faith codes was introduced in 2017 to help military chaplains understand the religious makeup of their units and comply with a 2013 congressional mandate.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in March that the larger system was “impractical and unusable.” However, after criticism, the Pentagon released a revised list Monday that removed the word “Christian” from all denominations rather than excluding the LDS church alone.

Mormon lawmakers argued the omission was an error.

Sen. Mike Lee of Utah called the exclusion “offensive” and “repugnant,” adding: “I’m imploring people at the Pentagon to reconsider this — not just reconsider it, but undo it. Secretary Hegseth, tear down that wall! This is not cool! Get rid of it, get rid of it now!”

Rep. Mike Kennedy also criticized the list, saying it was “wrong” and “needs to be corrected.”

After releasing the revised list on US social media company X, the Pentagon said the earlier version was “a proposed list” that contained “redundant and unnecessary labeling, and the mistake has been fixed.”