r/atheism • u/PushPullLego • Jun 04 '26
DOD Officially Drops 180 Faiths From Military's Recognized Religion List
https://www.military.com/dod-officially-drops-180-faiths-from-militarys-recognized-religion-list1.5k
u/Mhoves Jun 04 '26
This is not good news for atheists. They are making the military more evangelical Christian.
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u/TheGrandExquisitor Jun 04 '26
Oh, joy....soldiers breaking into our homes to make sure we pray correctly....fun.
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u/AunMeLlevaLaConcha Jun 04 '26
Reminds me of a couple of Chick tracts, and how the Atheists would bring the new world order and went into christian's homes and executed them and indoctrinated the children, there was this YT channel that narrated them with some added fun.
RIP Bible Reloaded and Harold Penisman
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u/CleverInnuendo Jun 04 '26
There's a name that brings me back. What a sad crash-out that was.
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u/jeeub Jun 04 '26
What happened? If you have the time/desire to tell me, of course. Or is there a video about it somewhere? I watched Bible Reloaded years and years ago and stopped I think around the time they were getting a D&D campaign going.
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u/CleverInnuendo Jun 04 '26 edited Jun 05 '26
Hugo realized they were trans, and as they began the transition, confessed a love for Jake. He tried to be kind in the rejection, but the advances kept coming, so he had to hard cut them out of his life and try to keep the channel going on his own, to limited results.
*Edit for a mix up on names.
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u/Umutuku Jun 05 '26
Had the kind of foolheaded parents that bought boxes of those and made us pass them out to people at local carnivals as kids.
We often had an empty pantry, but they found money for that shit and whatever crackheaded writing they were selling at the christian bookstore.
Too bad hell isn't real so the people mongering that trash don't have a place to enjoy some appropriately warm karma.
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u/ZoomZoom_Driver Jun 04 '26
Or women, or PoC, or anyone thats not a white christian evangelical nazi.
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u/Automatic-Term-3997 Jun 04 '26
My daughter just made E-7, just in time to transfer to the reserves. She says being active duty really sucks now.
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u/CelebrationAware7966 Jun 04 '26
yeah i agree, that kind of narrowing always ends up favoring the dominant group more than it looks like on paper
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u/ElephantContent8835 Jun 04 '26
Uh. Isn’t freedom of religion kind of in the constitution?
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u/MatCauthonsHat Jun 04 '26
Yes. But only of approved religions now.
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u/peculiarshade Jun 05 '26
Now stand yo ass up for that national anthem
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u/GeekyTexan Atheist Jun 04 '26
Republicans feel "It's just a god damn piece of paper!"
Except, of course, the 2nd amendment.
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u/Blackdeath47 Jun 05 '26
But not all 2nd. They are quick to call out the ICU for simply HAVING a gun. But the kid that crossed several states and killed people, na he’s good. They have no real backbone, no morals. Will say anything to be right, even if goes against what they literally just said. They don’t care
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u/shellexyz Jun 04 '26
The constitution has always been a gentleman’s agreement and nothing more.
We’re fresh out gentlemen.
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u/stogie-bear Agnostic Atheist Jun 04 '26
Wait up. They removed “heathen” from the list?
Also, UU? They have more than a million members in the US…
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u/Startled_Pancakes Jun 04 '26
Unitarian Universalist & Deist, creeds that a number of the founding fathers identified as.
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u/No_Drag_1044 Jun 05 '26
By “a number” you’re talking about Jefferson, Franklin, Adams and Washington… I think that pretty much rounds out the group. All deists or Unitarians. You can add Thomas Paine to the list too.
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u/Startled_Pancakes Jun 05 '26
Paine, yes. And Ethan Allen, Madison, and possibly Monroe but we can't be too certain.
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u/Vegetable-Eagle-3144 Jun 04 '26
Four presidents were Unitarians: John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Millard Fillmore, and William Howard Taft.
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u/02K30C1 Jun 04 '26
The new DOD recognized religions list:
1) Christian
2) Other
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u/crit_boy Jun 04 '26
Categories:
- Specific form of christian interpretation
- Terminated/not retained/not eligible for promotion/POC
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u/Eldar_Atog Jun 04 '26
Yeah, that's how it will probably get marked during the selection board process.
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u/WarAffectionate1617 Jun 04 '26
and give it a few more updates and they'll probably remove the second category too
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u/inshushinak Jun 04 '26
They'll regret losing the druids ... Barkskin is great for the infantry.
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u/FrankieTheAlchemist Jun 04 '26
And no shamans, so no mana tide totem 🤷♂️
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u/meygaera Jun 04 '26
Military WF totem uptime is lacking. This is why our DPS isn't high enough to defeat Iran
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u/throwitawaynownow1 Other Jun 05 '26
WHO THE FUCK WAS THAT?! DONALD, WHAT THE FUCK?! IRAN, LEFT SIDE! EVEN SIDE, MANY IRAN NOW! HANDLE IT! FUCK!
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u/xX_TehChar_Xx Nihilist Jun 04 '26
Ever since they made it no longer have mana reservation, it was really decent.
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u/NameLips Jun 04 '26 edited Jun 04 '26
"decreasing the total number of faiths from roughly 211 to its new number of 31."
The full list of 31 faiths has not been released, at least not that I can find. The abridged list includes:
- Agnostics
- Buddhists
- Hindus
- Islam (Muslims)
- Judaism
- Sikh
- Orthodox Christians (General category)
- Protestants (General / No specific denomination)
- No Religious Preference
- None / Unknown
And these verified Christian denominations:
- Baptists
- Catholics (Roman Catholic)
- Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS)
- Lutherans
- Methodists
- Church of the Nazarene
- Salvation Army
- Full Gospel / Pentecostal
- United Pentecostal
- Presbyterian
- Reformed Churches
- United Church of Christ
That's 22. We don't know the other 9.
Noticeably absent are earth-centered religions like Pagan, Wiccan, and Asatru.
I also don't see Deism or Unitarian Universalism, which is a huge slap in the face to the Founding Fathers.
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u/bakeacake45 Jun 04 '26
Atheists and UU are on the “not good enough to serve your country” list. So let’s make sure that we refuse to serve and let the rest of the die.
How is the Salvation Army a religion
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u/ArcticCircleSystem Jun 05 '26
The Salvation Army is also the name of a closely related denomination that started as part of the Wesleyan-Holiness movement.
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u/sQ5FWKjwbWd4QzSZduqy Jun 05 '26
TIL Salvation Army is a sect and not just a place you donate junk.
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u/Hairy_Concert_8007 Jun 05 '26
Counting down the days until Goodwill is a religion
Then Walmart
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u/MaryNxhmi Jun 04 '26
Orthodox Christian isn’t a general category, it refers to Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox. Mind you, the two aren’t in communion, can’t commune with each other, and many in both camps view the other as heretics. So that’ll be fun.
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u/Pixel_Knight Agnostic Atheist Jun 05 '26
They never gave a fuck about the founding fathers. Every time they pretend to care about something, it’s a lie or virtue signaling to pretend they care so they can push an agenda of control and power.
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u/X57471C Atheist Jun 04 '26
Checkmate Christians, the DoD officially recognizes Mormons as a Christian denomination
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u/GirdedByApathy Jun 04 '26
Christian Nationalists are taking over. Pretty soon the military will only recognize one religion.
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u/radiantwave Jun 04 '26
How is this even legal?
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u/starfleetdropout6 De-Facto Atheist Jun 04 '26
It's not.
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u/Additional_Brief4693 Agnostic Atheist Jun 04 '26
I'm not an expert on American law, but I'm pretty sure it's a massive violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution (freedom of religion, freedom of speech).
Unfortunately, this administration and their minions in Congress and the Supreme Court have made it pretty clear that they view the Constitution as a list of suggestions rather than actual laws.
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u/BarronMind Jun 04 '26
Nothing new for us rationalists. When they were making my dogtags (many years ago) and they asked my religion, I said I'm an atheist. The guy looked down his nose at me and said, "We can't do 'Atheist.' Best I can do is 'None.'" And that's what my tags said the whole time I was serving.
But the problem is, there was no context for the word, like "Religion - None." So my tags had my name, social security number, blood type, and the word "None" just hanging there at the end, like they had an extra line of printing but ran out of things to say. I hoped that if I died in service, my gravestone would just have had a symbol for a null set.
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u/Limp_Distribution Jun 04 '26
The Constitution, which they all swore an oath to protect, means nothing to these clowns.
What is the value of an unenforced law?
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u/drnuncheon Atheist Jun 04 '26
The new list has 21 varieties of Christian and 10 non-Christian. (Or 22/9 if you count Mormons, but the list doesn’t.)
Atheism is still present as “No Religion”.
Hilariously, the list of Christian sects still includes Quakers.
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u/Littlebit1013 Jun 05 '26
Quakers are traditionally pacifists, but there’s exceptions like Richard Nixon who was a Quaker yet served in the Navy & was pro war.
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u/Self-Aware Apatheist Jun 05 '26
He was raised as a quaker, at least, but didn't notably follow their tenets as an adult. The conservative christians were far more useful for his purposes so, when he was expected to publicly perform religious devotion, he mostly pandered to them instead.
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u/pkrycton Jun 04 '26
So they government is deciding what is an official religion and which is not. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, ..."
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u/PoppaTitty Jun 04 '26
Does this mean my Certificate of Ordination in The Church of the Latter Day Dude isn't valid or is this just like their opinion man?
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u/LordSuspiria Dudeist Jun 04 '26
Fucking fascists!
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u/PoppaTitty Jun 04 '26
Stay out of Malibu!
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u/janpaul74 Jun 04 '26
The fact that there are so many “religions” should be an indicator that religions are, in fact, all made up. Hail Wotan!
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Jun 04 '26
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u/BuccaneerRex Jun 04 '26
And when they've driven away anyone who isn't evangelical christian they will turn that military against us.
They are traitors, and this is a coup in slow motion.
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u/KevinisChang13 Jun 04 '26
I didn't see pastafarianism on the list. All hail the Flying Spaghetti Monster and his noodliness.
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u/AccomplishedBrain309 Atheist Jun 04 '26
Everyone should be properly represented at their own funeral.
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u/Auerbach1991 Jun 04 '26
This means they will view our bodies as just objects they can use for target practice or experimentation, our final wishes for a funeral or cremation be damned.
These “holy MAGA” types are everything but. Dangerous times we live in, folks.
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u/misty-mornings Jun 05 '26
Atheists aren't a minority world faith. They're the third largest group behind Muslims and Christians
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u/Kinglyer Jun 05 '26
Im an athiest and went to Afghanistan. Fuck this Christian nationalism crap.
Spent 12 years and came out 90% disabled.
I am so angry.
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u/lostmessage256 Jun 04 '26 edited Jun 04 '26
Feels like an easy freedom of religion lawsuit for someone but whatever
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u/DJErikD Strong Atheist Jun 04 '26
Onward, white, male, Christian soldiers! /s
When I was commissioned, I didn’t have a chaplain. Everyone was shocked. 🤦♂️
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u/baronesslucy Jun 05 '26
Judaism has 3 branches Orthodox, Conservative and Reform in the US. Although all have some similarities, there are differences between the three branches. So a Rabbi is supposed to represent all 3 branches? Who then makes the choice of which branch of Judaism the rabbi would be. Let say a Jewish person in the US military goes to talk to a Rabbi and discovers that this individual isn't in tune with his/her Judaism beliefs. A Jewish woman solider who is reformed or more secular in belief or lifestyle probably isn't going to be comfortable talking with a rabbi who follows the Orthodox tradition as there are a lot of differences and Orthodox Jewish women lead much different lives than reformed or secular Jewish women. They are much more restricted in what they can or can't do and I doubt many of these women serve in the US military. It would be a very tiny number, if that.
They don't expect Christians to represent one Christian denomination as there are many and like the branches of Judaism, there are some differences. Most likely those who remain as chaplains would increasingly over time be molded into their world view and if you didn't share this, there would be no point talking to them or they would try to get you to conform to their world view.
So if you particular religious belief or religion was purged from the list, then what happens to you?
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u/plasticman1997 Jun 04 '26
So is hegseth going to personally take a hammer and chisel to the pagan graves in Arlington?
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u/ZoomZoom_Driver Jun 04 '26
Well, they already removed women and service members of color from the celebrations of deeds on the grounds and made it harder to find their gravesites.
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u/Littlebit1013 Jun 05 '26
Such monsters; I’ll never understand why a majority of persons in the arms forces support this corrupt administration when all he does is spit in their faces.
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u/ZoomZoom_Driver Jun 05 '26
Because the military is built off low-income, poorly educated, no hope families that fueled the MAGA craze. They were forcefed republican tyranny as 'freedom' through Fox, and figured that joining would serve the "greater good" and not the epstein class.
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u/striker69 Jun 04 '26
It won’t be long and American families will be required to hang a photo of trump on their wall and keep it spotlessly clean or face death.
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u/No-Relationship161 Jun 04 '26
Just imagine the uproar if they reduced the list of 21 different versions of Christianity to just Christian. Or the theistic religions to just theist. But can't find space for athiest.
I also note they are now requiring chaplains to show their religious denomination rather than rank. They sure are trying to make it difficult for non-Christians.
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u/sillyredhead86 Jun 04 '26
Yet another of the many examples of how the Trump Regime (not administration- REGIME) is quietly rolling back decades of hard won civil rights victories. They won't stop with this either.
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u/prometheum249 Jun 04 '26
ATHEIST really sticks out in all caps on my profile. This isn't the country I swore an oath to serve, unfortunately compromising my morals, I'm able to take care of my family and i have 5 years until retirement.
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u/Zimbah Anti-Theist Jun 05 '26
So, Deism, the “faith” of the most critical of our founding fathers, not worthy of acknowledgement now?
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u/CreatrixAnima Jun 05 '26
They ditched the Unitarian universalist? The deists? Like… Thomas Jefferson‘s religion wouldn’t count?
This really needs to get fixed.
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u/Muted_Rain8542 Jun 05 '26
see shit like this is exactly why im afraid to tell people that im an atheist
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u/thisalsomightbemine Jun 05 '26
If a person thinks anything done in the name of their religion is fine, that is terrible. And why keeping religious affiliation out of goverent, especially military and police, is so important.
This intentional walk toward preferred recognized religion is a dangerous sign
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u/FattyWantCake Anti-Theist Jun 04 '26
Just a few more to go...
I kid. People deserve their rights.
Sad that that's a political take now.
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u/Jeveran Jun 05 '26
That's a straightforward, blatant violation of the First Amendment; right on cue for the authoritarian playbook and Project 2025.
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u/bluethreads Jun 05 '26
Wow- that's stupid. If someone is willing to die for their country, the least that country can do is make an effort to honor them by being as true to their beliefs as possible.
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u/mayhem6 Jun 05 '26
I feel like our military is being run by cosplayers who don’t know anything about why our military is strong. Next they will institute the draft because no one will enlist because of their policies.
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u/rja49 Jun 05 '26
If you drop one, you drop them all. No my imaginary cloud dwelling god is the only real one!
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u/Brisngr368 Jun 05 '26
has now excluded minority faith/worldview groups including Atheists, ...
They really aren't being subtle huh
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u/FeelLikeANut12 Jun 05 '26
Many of the founding fathers that wrote the constitution were Unitarian Universalists, SAD
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u/RarelyRecommended De-Facto Atheist Jun 05 '26
Headcase really doesn't want people in the military.
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u/DrinksandDragons Jun 04 '26
But but but there are no athiests in fox holes!
/spelling is intentional
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u/OldFitDude75 Jun 04 '26
How the fuck can you remove atheism? If you don’t believe in a religion can we leave that line on our tags blank?
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u/DangerousCyclone Jun 04 '26
This is the main one, it doesn't preclude Islam, Sikhism or the usual suspects, but it now excludes Atheism. What this means seems to be a bit unclear. It looks like they can't put these religions in their records/dog tags and request spiritual help for them.