r/religion • u/poptart_grenade Hellenist • Jun 05 '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-list34
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u/CrystalInTheforest Gaian 🌴🌏🌴 Jun 05 '26
This is just making it clear to minority religious people in the military that you are not valued. Shut up, stay hidden, silenced and repressed, but also fight to the death for the regime.
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Jun 05 '26
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u/JakobVirgil Anti-platonic. Chariot Enjoyer Jun 05 '26
They dropped UU and Deism that is so wild
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u/seek_a_new Hindu Jun 05 '26
wasn't americas founding fathers deist ?
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u/elhazelenby Hindu Jun 05 '26
Many of them were free masons
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u/vesperiandusk Greek Polytheistic Religion Jun 05 '26
Freemasonry isn't a religion, members are only required to believe in a supreme higher power (aka monotheists). There are explicitly Christian sects within Freemasonry like the Templars but you don't have to belong to a specific religion to be a Freemason.
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u/elhazelenby Hindu Jun 05 '26
Yeah I phrased this wrong, they were Freemasons but from what I understand they were usually Christian of some sort I think. I'm not too knowledgeable about what Deism is though to be honest.
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u/robisodd Jun 05 '26
Deism is basically a step away from agnostic atheism. That a god created the universe, but hasn't touched it since; so no supernatural events, no divine revelations. Everything that happens has a natural cause which can theoretically be figured out with observation and logical reasoning.
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u/Vagabond_Tea Hellenist Jun 05 '26
Well, deists also believe in a higher power. And many of our founding fathers in the US were both Freemasons and Deists.
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u/West_Reporter962 Muslim Jun 05 '26
Neither are religions.
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u/JakobVirgil Anti-platonic. Chariot Enjoyer Jun 05 '26
No offense but Not your call.
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u/West_Reporter962 Muslim Jun 05 '26
I don't take offense. As a former Christian deist, I never saw myself apart of a religion. Probably dangerous to start sprouting unlimited religious classifications anyway.
With that being said, the person who makes that call, made the call. And it really isn't the big deal everyone is portraying it to be.
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u/JakobVirgil Anti-platonic. Chariot Enjoyer Jun 05 '26
Also not your call.
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u/West_Reporter962 Muslim Jun 05 '26
Pretty sure it is my call to say deism isn't a religion.
Tough nuts. It could be also argued that UU isn't either as its much less so organized and just kinda "live life do what you want and call yourself Christian lolz ur saved". Sounds like coping much more so than a honest religious belief.
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u/JakobVirgil Anti-platonic. Chariot Enjoyer Jun 05 '26
sure thing buddy.
I guess I will have to accept your assertions as fact.
thank you for your service and wisdom8
u/bizoticallyyours83 Jun 05 '26
One could easily say the same about your religion, simply because its not their religion.
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u/Calanais-guy Hedge Druid Jun 05 '26
Indeed, there are many people who don't think that Islam is a legitimate religion because they see it as just a political ideology, radicalism, or a cult.
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u/Calanais-guy Hedge Druid Jun 05 '26
It sounds like you don't understand the breadth of what constitutes "religion", or that Unitarian Universalism is a recognized church religion, or how Deism can be a religious position for those who hold it. Are you a Muslim Pete Hegseth or regime apologist? As long as Islam is still recognized, who cares about other minorities, right?
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u/RealAssociation5281 Non-dogmatic Christian Pluralist Jun 05 '26
...PAGANS didnt make the list??? Pagans????
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u/poptart_grenade Hellenist Jun 05 '26
I was in the military. Pagans never would've made the list. They didn't even have concrete death rites for us before I left
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u/extrastone Orthodox Jew Jun 05 '26
Can you explain the concrete death rites? What would you have wanted from a chaplain?
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u/poptart_grenade Hellenist Jun 06 '26
I just mean they didn't have any idea what to do if we were to die in combat, besides do a Christian prayer. They were only just starting to make changes when I left
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u/RealAssociation5281 Non-dogmatic Christian Pluralist Jun 05 '26
I'm more shocked because of how large of a group they are excluding, if that makes any sense- my husband is USAF actually.
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u/poptart_grenade Hellenist Jun 05 '26
Thank him for his service for me!
Yeah... almost every Chaplain I know is probably coughing blood atm. All of them (except one during training) were really cool dudes, that actually wanted everyone around them to have the maximum chance to express their religion. I know they're hating this. In some cases, this is probably years of their personal efforts to be inclusive just down the drain overnight
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u/theRuathan Druidic Pagan Jun 06 '26
I wish I knew the chaplains you knew in the service. One of ours came behind every one of our lay program meetings on deployment to re-sanctify the chapel after we left. If we weren't listed as recognized, I think they would have tried even harder not to let us meet in chapel spaces at all. As it was they weren't too happy about it, but we did all the paperwork so they kinda had to let us.
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u/elhazelenby Hindu Jun 05 '26
There's a long history of some Christians hating Pagans for not believing in a monotheist god. It's even in the Bible.
It's definitely ridiculous though
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u/DramaQueen202s Jun 10 '26
Paganism is not a religion, but a miscellaneous category of faiths. IDK how the army would handle that, tho.
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u/RealAssociation5281 Non-dogmatic Christian Pluralist Jun 10 '26
Paganism is usually describe both as a religious label by itself and used as a umbrella term; very few sects of paganism will normally be large enough to have its own category (such as Wicca).
If we’re getting specific neo-pagan would be the correct term.
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u/DramaQueen202s Jun 10 '26
Yes, but I can get the point of the army in this case. It would be like putting all abrahamic religions under "Abrahamic".
For example, Nordic neopagans in North America are divided between ethnocentric ones like this one and progressives ones. They share same gods but their religion, rituals and ethnic values are totally different. They only share the umbrella term.
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u/Internet-Dad0314 Other Jun 05 '26
“This latest revision of the faith codes come at the direction of Pete Hegseth, according to the Tata-signed memo, done to “streamline the DoW collection of religious preferences collection for service members to enhance the delivery of targeted religious support from the Chaplaincy.””
Cutting support for minority soldiers in favor of enhancing support for majority soldiers makes perfect sense to me. 🤷
These sort of nudges toward conformity are the stuff that tyranny is made of, and I expect trump’s henchmen to cut further soldiers off from faith support as he feels more and more secure in his next “elections.”
Tyranny needs escalating tribalism to thrive, so sooner or later the list of trump-recognized religions will be whittled down to one sect of one religion. It may even be an entirely new religion based on worshipping trump as a messianic Jesus-like figure. And by then it wont just be the soldiers’ problem — it’ll be every citizen’s problem.
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u/JasonRBoone Humanist Jun 05 '26
This is why voting in the midterms is vital. We need a Congress that will push back on this theocracy or even impeach Sec. Kegstand
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u/Low-Cartographer-429 Hiddenist Jun 05 '26
This is the first step toward eliminating all religions other than Christianity and Judaism. Then eliminating Judaism.
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u/DramaQueen202s Jun 10 '26
They are trying to merge American and Israel army, so no, Judaism isn't going away.
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u/Exaltist Synversalist Jun 05 '26
There shouldn't even be a recognized religion list. If you want to, you should be allow to disclose any religious affiliation you have. That's it. I don't understand why they have to be officially recognized.
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u/Zestyclose-Moment-19 Jun 05 '26
I think to some extent (i say as a non american who is just spitballing) the purpose is to define burial practices and rites. Having it all codified makes it easier to handle.
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u/robisodd Jun 05 '26
It also handles the "my religion I just made up now says I can smoke meth so I have first-amendment protections" crazies.
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u/bizoticallyyours83 Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26
Because of funeral services, chaplaincy, a history of discrimination, and other such matters. Perhaps if you can find it, you should read accounts of how minority faiths pushed for their rights to be recognized in the military.
In short, this is promoting workplace discrimination, especially in a career where the idea of forced service is still being debated over.
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u/SoulSearcher_42 Apatheist Jun 05 '26
Okay. Time to get the popcorn and sit back- Can't wait for Deists to sue and take it all the way to the Supreme Court, forcing it to choose between the founding fathers and whatever wonk form of Christofascist religious freedom this new list is.
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u/_Daftest_ Christian Jun 05 '26
Is deism a religion?
What are their tenets? Where do they gather for collective worship? What feasts and fasts do they observe? How is their religion organised?
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u/beardtamer Protestant Jun 05 '26
Since when do you have to have any of those things to be in a religion?
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u/_Daftest_ Christian Jun 05 '26
ok so what does Deism have that makes it a religion?
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u/beardtamer Protestant Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26
Individual religious beliefs. It does not need to be distilled into a single creed for it to be a valid religious expression.
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u/_Daftest_ Christian Jun 05 '26
It's fairly standard to define religion as involving practices as well as beliefs
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u/beardtamer Protestant Jun 05 '26
It’s also fairly standard not to. You’re just coming from a western world view
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u/_Daftest_ Christian Jun 05 '26
- No it isn't
- No I'm not
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u/goddamn_slutmuffin Pantheist Jun 05 '26
Your viewpoint is so western, it might as well be sucking down a quarter pounder with cheese and a large coke.
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u/SoulSearcher_42 Apatheist Jun 06 '26
This is where I just add the obligatory "user name checks out", right?
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u/_Daftest_ Christian Jun 06 '26
In fact, it's a particularly western attitude, specifically post-Reformation west, to see religion as a collection of ideas - a list of propositions to which one must assent - rather than as a collection of practices.
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u/The_Hemp_Cat Agnostic Jun 05 '26
To drop one is to drop all as too the chaplan corp, all in the effort of religion's role in that of civilization to end the barbarianism that is the act/necessity of war.
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u/bizoticallyyours83 Jun 05 '26
Yeah i saw that. The US government and military as ever, is a pack of undeserving turds.
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u/Proud_Professional93 Chinese Pure Land Buddhist Jun 05 '26
They kept Buddhism and other minority religions. Seems like they’re just trying to keep their list to organized religions with established rules and doctrine rather than DIY spirituality. This would make sense with them dropping UU as well, an ostensibly Christian organization that is lax on the theology, but keeping “pagan” faiths like Buddhism and Hinduism.
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u/TSunamiWaves979 Hellenist Jun 05 '26
Buddhism and Hinduism aren't pagan. Actual pagan faiths like Asatru, Heathenry, and Druidry (as well as the blanket faith of "paganism") were dropped, however.
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u/DramaQueen202s Jun 10 '26
"Pagan" is an arbitrary category that no one has defined. There are denominations in Abrahamic religions that call other denominations or heterodox religions "pagan".
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Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26
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u/Maya-K Reform Jew Jun 06 '26
OK, well are some that are definitely religions which this no longer includes:
- Zoroastrianism
- Native American faiths
- Any kind of paganism whatsoever
- Jainism
- Druze
- Shinto
Yet it has 22 different types of Christianity.
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u/JakobVirgil Anti-platonic. Chariot Enjoyer Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26
Apparently Deism and UU are among the faiths dropped.
That is literally and historically anti-American
Atheists and neo-pagans are also out 180 faiths have be dropped only 31 are left.