# 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:** 7
**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 8, 2026, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/121 "2026-06-08T09:53:26Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Already covered in > > Bill, the Galactic Hero Thank you for finding this! All kidding and snark aside, I would trust and hope that a chaplain would have many of the same skills and attitudes as a railway conductor - not necessarily sharing your vacation plans or tastes in holiday, but making sure you got there, with your luggage, and able to smooth over the bumps in the road. ---
**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 8, 2026, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/122 "2026-06-08T12:00:26Z")
Not even remotely the same. Strawman. I was stronged arm in bootcamp into attending some sort of Chapel bs on Sundays just so the company could get a stupid church going flag, so yeah, screw all that crap honestly. I, like all in the military swore an oath to protect the Constitution, but apparently there’s one amendment exempt. Same crap happened to me once on the ship. Fucking LtJg tried to punish me for not going to a Crystal Cathedral mass on the hangar bay. So no, religion plays too much a part of the military. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/123 "2026-06-08T12:46:26Z")
Oh, I hear you. In boot camp I too attended chapel rather than do a deep cleaning of our barracks for an hour and a half, and had no real contact with any chaplain of any faith until my exit interview. He commented I seemed pretty self-sufficient and would do fine outside. But faith is important to some people just as proper pronouns are to some others. The middle path needs to be taken, offered but not forced. ---
**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 8, 2026, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/124 "2026-06-08T15:15:57Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Speaking as an agnostic you’re okay with someone asked to risk their life for this country and just be tossed aside when they kick it? From the point of view of the kickee what difference could it possibly make? Dead is dead. What’s said on the surface has nothing to do with 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 8, 2026, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/125 "2026-06-08T15:49:44Z")
But you don’t get to speak on behalf of the kickees-you only get to speak on behalf of yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/126 "2026-06-08T16:00:03Z")
From the point of view of the living person, knowing that if they die they’ll receive the proper rites is comforting. From the point of view of the dead person’s brothers and sisters in arms, seeing the dead person “tossed aside” would be bad for morale. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/127 "2026-06-08T16:00:30Z")
Exactly. Just because you don’t give a shit, doesn’t mean that they don’t. It a deeply personal thing. And for the record, I don’t personally give a shit for myself. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/128 "2026-06-08T16:02:30Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Just because you don’t give a shit, doesn’t mean that they don’t. It a deeply personal thing. And for the record, I don’t personally give a shit for myself. This, I’m on record as saying that when I die I want all usable organs donated, what can be given to science given to science and the rest put in a trash bag and thrown away. But I can understand other people feeling differently. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/129 "2026-06-08T16:03:24Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > This, I’m on record as saying that when I die I want all usable organs donated, what can be given to science given to science and the rest put in a trash bag and thrown away. This is essentially identical to the wording that it attached to my will. ---
**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 8, 2026, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/130 "2026-06-08T16:24:29Z")
Where is anybody getting the idea that if the proper two-digit code isn’t on the dog tag the dead will be “tossed aside”? Or the notion that the relatives or comrades wouldn’t honor the dead? Military policy is to retrieve bodies even at the risk of others. When it gets to the point that someone checks the dog tag first and makes a decision based on that, America will long dead itself. Obviously, funeral procedures are for the living (barring health concerns). They go on regardless of anything, including that 30% of the military is represented by 3% of the chaplains, and even that’s an overstatement since non-believers have nobody assigned to them. If you’re going to talk about “tossed aside” start there and not about some imaginary insults to the fallen. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2026, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/131 "2026-06-08T16:26:38Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Where is anybody getting the idea that if the proper two-digit code isn’t on the dog tag the dead will be “tossed aside”? From here: > [@DesertDog](#): > > Speaking as an agnostic you’re okay with someone asked to risk their life for this country and just be tossed aside when they kick it? and your response: > [@Hegseth's Pentagon is drastically reducing the number of religions recognized by the military](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/124): > > From the point of view of the kickee what difference could it possibly make? Dead is dead. What’s said on the surface has nothing to do with it. ---
**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 8, 2026, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/132 "2026-06-08T16:33:32Z")
If anyone cares, here’s the details. Now 40 years ago, getting a little hard to remember, thankfully I posted about it 20 years ago. > [@Is the military really that bad?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-military-really-that-bad/333006/60): > > Just one last anedote before I go to sleep: Concerning I was in the Navy and we were going to have a nice celebration of Martin Luther King Day. Then I discovered that the nut job Televangelist from the Crystal Cathedral was going to lead a prayer and they expected all of us to attend. I went to my Division Officer and told him I could not participate as it violated my religious beliefs (lack there of) I find the huge glowing cross and the Televangelist to be offensive to my belief. He ordere… ---
**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 8, 2026, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/133 "2026-06-08T16:34:48Z")
This article from the Military Association of Atheists & Freethinkers discusses how the military _doesn’t_ cater to atheist, agnostics and freethinkers, and brings up a number of things that should be done to correct this, but aren’t. [Military Association of Atheists & Freethinkers | Advocacy](https://militaryatheists.org/advocacy/) ---
**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 8, 2026, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/134 "2026-06-08T22:54:32Z")
Yeah, I saw @DesertDog’s words. I even quoted them. Maybe you could explain to me why he said something that extreme and bizarre and why others apparently didn’t attack him as strongly as I did. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2026, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/135 "2026-06-09T01:00:06Z")
You did not attack him either, you only said that being “Tossed aside” made no difference to the dead person. If you wanted to dispute his assertion, you could’ve rightly said that having no rites by a religious authority given to you after death is not “being tossed aside”. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2026, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/136 "2026-06-09T03:45:17Z")
Secretary of War Crimes has walked back the list. I posted the new list over in the cluster thread. They still couldn’t fix it right though. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2026, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/137 "2026-06-09T03:57:57Z")
Sorry. I meant he has modified the list again. ---
**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 9, 2026, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/138 "2026-06-09T04:16:57Z")
As far as I can tell, the only modification they made was to remove the word “Christian” from the various flavors of Christianity, because LDS members objected that they weren’t called Christian as well. That’s not much of a change. (Compare the list below with the previous list I provided in post 8 of this thread.) [![](https://static0.mltimages.com/wordpresshttps://static0.mltimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/20260608_175209.jpg) ](https://static0.mltimages.com/wordpresshttps://static0.mltimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/20260608_175209.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2026, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/139 "2026-06-09T04:41:18Z")
As I said in the other thread, they cannot even fix it right. So Assemblies of Goed is separate from Pentecostal? Since when? And which Brethren? They’re not all the same style? And further proof they cannot even screw up right is the list misspells _The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints_. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2026, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649/140 "2026-06-09T07:34:21Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > So Assemblies of Goed is separate from Pentecostal? Church of God is also Pentecostal. Both are smaller Pentecostal denominations in the US than the substantively African-American Church of God In Christ which is confusingly not identical with the Congregationalist Church(es) of Christ OR the Church of God. Whether the above-listed Church of Christ is identical to the Congregationalist church (probably) or the Pentecostal version is unclear to me. Because of course it is - Christian sects mostly suck at creating unique church names. I guess just Pentecostal is “Pentecostal, other” for everyone else. Why just one Baptist denomination then is anyone’s guess. If they were just sucking up to conservative evangelicals you might expect the Southern Baptist Convention to be singled out, but it isn’t. Instead we get just get Evangelical which covers a massively wide base of disparate churches. Hegseth is a super-conservative evangelical, but he isn’t Pentecostal so it isn’t that. Probably just multiple-input compromise government randomness at work, filtered through an unorganized conservative Christian lens. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hegseths-pentagon-is-drastically-reducing-the-number-of-religions-recognized-by-the-military/1030649.md?page=8)