# Hegseth's Pentagon is drastically reducing the number of religions recognized by the military **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 5, 2026, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649 "2026-06-05T19:42:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/21 "2026-06-05T21:39:40Z")
In the end this mostly boils down to a 2 letter code on the dog tags. Not much else to it. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/22 "2026-06-05T21:54:24Z")
Out of 31 choices, 22 seem to be variations of Christianity. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/23 "2026-06-05T21:55:45Z")
Check those vs percentage of Americans in those faiths and you’ll have your answers. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/24 "2026-06-05T21:56:21Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > all those dropped were apparently representing less than 1% of the population So most people could say “I was not shamanist so I did not speak out”. Sounds fine, not something that could ever cause problems in the future ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/25 "2026-06-05T21:57:35Z")
There are so many bigger threats to our Democracy, a 2 letter code on a dog tag seems like a minor issue or RO. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/26 "2026-06-05T22:00:43Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > There are so many bigger threats to our Democracy, a 2 letter code on a dog tag seems like a minor issue or RO I disagree. When it’s done by a defense secretary plastered with Christian nationalist tattoos, this is clearly a case of “we can do this without anyone complaining, because seriously who is really a shaman? That will make it easier when we make our move on the Sikhs” ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/27 "2026-06-05T22:01:46Z")
Personally I would remove all the codes. Separation of State and Church would be nice. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/28 "2026-06-05T22:08:28Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Let’s be clear, this a step on the road to reducing this number to exactly 1(one) state sanctioned Christian nationalist denomination. And that one is probably #12 above, Evangelical Christian. > [@What\_Exit](#): > > In the end this mostly boils down to a 2 letter code on the dog tags. Yeah, it’s petty, and as we all know, this administration has no floor to how petty they’re willing to go. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/29 "2026-06-05T22:12:18Z")
[ > [@Atamasama](#): > > #12 above, Evangelical Christian. Historically they are quite pacifist when it gets down to less than 5 they will pull out their church of the Lord high Trump, and demand personal allegiance (to the living or dead body of the Lord high Excellency) ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/30 "2026-06-05T22:15:04Z")
I think you’re missing the point, which is that they didn’t have to do this in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/31 "2026-06-05T22:18:54Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Historically they are quite pacifist when it gets down to less than 5 they will pull out their church of the Lord high Trump, and demand personal allegiance (to the living or dead body of the Lord high Excellency) Yeah, they’ll pull a [Henry VIII](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acts_of_Supremacy). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/32 "2026-06-05T22:26:47Z")
Separation of church and state should always take precedence over everything. In our real world, symbolism takes eyeballs away from everything else. For decades now, the left has tried to recognize the enormous range of human behavior, from the variety of sexual preferences and physical identities to the disparate cultures that Americans represent to the foods that are boosted to the mainstream. Clearly, the spiritual dimension of belief structures is part of that. And it seems to drive the right utterly insane. The more the left expands what is to be considered “normal” behavior the more the right wants to constrict “normality” to the narrowest possible set of behaviors. Two sexes. European ancestry. White skin. One religion, with footnotes. To be as reductive as a MAGA, the entirety of the culture war is a manifestation of the limitations vs. enlargement of allowable normality. Hegseth’s actions cannot be read as a bureaucratic simplification of overly inflated categories, which might be true and reasonable in other administrations. He had loudly insisted on WASP normality as the only identity that will be recognized in the military. This symbolic act will resonate with every member of the service who is not reducible to protestant, with footnotes. Keep telling people they are not wanted because they are not normal and the end is always a totalitarian nightmare of ins vs. outs. This is not nothing. It will loom. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/33 "2026-06-05T22:27:30Z")
Looks like Jefferson, Franklin, and other Deist founding fathers wouldn’t be welcome in Kegsbreath’s military. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/34 "2026-06-05T22:30:48Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Separation of church and state should always take precedence over everything. I agree but if you a member of the military who is killed or injured in action, the two-digit code tells them what sort of faith leader (if any) should be called for you. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/35 "2026-06-05T22:39:21Z")
And the previous list failed to do that? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/36 "2026-06-05T22:40:59Z")
Well, the previous list required them to stockpile 200+ faith leaders. Reducing the list makes the storage requirements easier. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/37 "2026-06-05T22:41:50Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > > [@Atamasama](#): > > > > #12 above, Evangelical Christian. > > Historically they are quite pacifist when it gets down to less than 5 they will pull out their church of the Lord high Trump, and demand personal allegiance (to the living or dead body of the Lord high Excellency) When _what_ gets down to less than 5? The Pew Research Center lumps atheists into the No Religion category along with those who are spiritual but not a member of an organized religion. Does this new set of religions do the same? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/38 "2026-06-05T22:44:21Z")
How efficient. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/39 "2026-06-05T22:48:42Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > When _what_ gets down to less than 5? Number of officially approved religions and denominations by the DoD. ---
**Author:** ![vbob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vbob/32/4439_2.png) [@vbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vbob)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/40 "2026-06-05T22:54:51Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Well, the previous list required them to stockpile 200+ faith leaders. Reducing the list makes the storage requirements easier. SOME of them are more than happy to double up, or more. Google is pleased to inform me that “Yes, a Unitarian Universalist (UU) can absolutely be a Wiccan shaman and an atheist.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649.md?page=3)