Pentagon Cuts Recognized Military Faiths to 31, Excluding Atheists and Pagans

3 articles · Updated · RNS | Covering the world of religion. · Jun 4

A May 20 Pentagon memo reduced officially recognized military faith groups to 31 from about 211, according to Military.com, with atheists, pagans, humanists and New Age faiths reportedly left off.
Pete Hegseth had previewed the change in March, saying the old system had become "impractical and unusable" because many of the 200-plus affiliation codes were rarely or never used.
The Defense Department has not detailed who made the final list or how the change will affect service members seeking chaplain support, while an unofficial roster suggests it largely keeps Christian denominations plus a few major non-Christian faiths.
Critics say the cut could make it harder for minority-belief troops to find support and could jeopardize chaplains whose ecclesiastical endorsements are tied to now-unrecognized groups.
The rollback reverses a 2017 expansion that the military said would improve religious demographic data, chaplain planning and support across the force.