U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, a Republican from Utah, attends a Sutherland Institute forum at the University of Utah’s Hinckley Institute of Politics on Oct. 14, 2024. (Katie McKellar/Utah News Dispatch)
WASHINGTON – The Pentagon changed course Monday after the removal of dozens of religious denominations from a list of recognized faiths over the weekend drew intense criticism from Republicans in Utah outraged that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was not classified as a Christian denomination.
U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, a member of the church widely known as the Mormon Church, said the military chaplain policy announced Friday was “insulting” and called for a U-turn from the Pentagon, which the department did Monday afternoon.
“It also simply defies any sense of decency, any sense of our shared heritage, and our shared belief that the government should not interfere in doctrinal disputes between different religious denominations,” Lee, a Republican from Utah, said in a statement Video statement Posted on social media Sunday evening.
“That’s why I respectfully implore the people at the Pentagon to reconsider, not just reconsider, but reverse it,” Lee continued. “Secretary Hegseth: Tear down this wall. That’s not cool.”
Hours later, Lee wrote on social media that he personally spoke to President Donald Trump on the phone about “the Pentagon’s ‘Christian list'” and told people to “stay informed.”
“I won’t speak for him, but I’m excited about where this is going,” Lee said wrote. “We are very fortunate that President Trump (1) loves Latter-day Saints and (2) is our commander in chief.”
A spokesman for Lee’s office told the State Newsroom on Monday that the senator had received assurances from the administration that the issue would be resolved.
Shortly after noon Eastern Time on Monday, the Pentagon alerted the state’s newsroom to a social media site post Shows an updated list without the word “Christian” in front of any of the denominations.
“The Pentagon’s job is not to adjudicate theological debates, but rather to ensure that sincere faith is respected and promoted within our ranks,” said the post from an account with the username “DOW Rapid Response,” which uses the acronym for the government’s preferred but unofficial name, Department of War.
Sen. John Curtis, a Republican from Utah, also weighed in on social media, saying the church was “clearly Christian.”
“It is unacceptable for a government agency to characterize a belief in a way that contradicts the basic tenets of the religion,” he said wrote Saturday.
One concern for lawmakers is that service members who are Latter-day Saints may not receive services from a Christian chaplain.
The issue puts the Pentagon at the center of a long-running theological dispute between Latter-day Saints, who believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ and consider themselves Christians, and some members of other Christian faiths who believe the Salt Lake City-based church should be considered outside Christianity.
Latter-day Saint church leaders declined to comment Monday.
The White House alerted the state’s newsroom to the department’s social media announcement Monday afternoon.
Shorter list
Citing a two-page letter posted Taking to social media Friday, Parnell said the department is taking a “long overdue step” to reduce the military chaplains’ total religious affiliation list from an “unmanageable” 200 to 31.
“This reduction in religious affiliation rules is not intended to claim the legitimacy of any faith or religious belief, nor is it intended to provide a list of ‘officially recognized’ religions. Rather, it is intended to allow chaplains to quickly take a look at the religious makeup of their units and determine how to structure resources to best serve warfighters of all faith groups,” Parnell wrote.
The list includes 21 different Christian denominations, but lists The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints separately.
“Christian nationalist takeover”
Criticism of the recent list reverberated beyond Latter-day Saints.
The Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, a Baptist minister and president and CEO of the advocacy group Interfaith Alliance, accused the administration on Friday of pushing for a “Christian nationalist takeover of the Defense Department.”
“Religious freedom in the military must mean religious freedom for everyone who serves, not just those this administration finds politically useful,” Rauschenbush said in a statement.
“Secretary Hegseth is not ‘smoothing’ anything. He is lifting a narrow religious belief from the top of the chain of command. This is dangerous, discriminatory and fundamentally un-American. 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 faiths deserve recognition.”
Hegseth announced in March a restructuring of the military chaplaincy, which he said was “infected with political correctness and secular humanism.”
Hegseth host a monthly Christian service at the Pentagon.
