Spirituality
Jun. 7th, 2026 01:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithDOD Officially Drops 180 Faiths From Military's Recognized Religion List
The reforms mark the first time the list has been officially revised since a memo was issued March 27, 2017, decreasing the total number of faiths from 211 to its new number of 31.
Of surviving 31, 22 of them -- about 2/3 -- are Christian. Everyone else is an afterthought.
This restructuring of faith codes, which help identify service members as well as the military in planning for appropriated religious coverage to include them, has now excluded minority faith/worldview groups including Atheists, Asatru, Deists, Druids, Eckankar, Heathens, Humanists, Magick, New Age churches, Pagan, Rosicrucianism, Shaman, Spiritualists, Troth, Unitarian Universalists and various Wiccans.
Here's a practical example of cost to people who thought they wouldn't be impacted by the changes...
Old system:
"Begay, you're a Shaman, can you tell me how to disarm this mess of candles and symbols without setting it off?"
"Well sir, it's not my tradition, but most spells and curses dissipate harmlessly if dismantled by a natural force instead of a person. I'd set up a deadfall over it with a hair-trigger and walk away. If you need to use the general area, I can throw some cornmeal around for a quick blessing."
New system:
"Does anybody know how to disarm this mess?"
*silence*
Or worse, they just kick it apart because nobody knows better (or will say) and then wonder why everything is going wrong for the next moon but none of it shows up on a diagnostic.
A former U.S. Army chaplain who now serves as an endorser told Military.com the revised list is “horrible.”
“When I raised my hand to become an Army chaplain, I swore that I would support and defend the Constitution,” the individual, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Military.com. “The First Amendment is the free exercise of religion for everybody. That's what I was buying into.”
Well said.
And see, that's the difference between a chaplain anywhere and a clergyperson serving a specific congregation. A chaplain serves everyone of all faiths, and they are placed in situations where you just don't know whose religion might pop up in need of assistance. It takes a very different, very flexible personality to do that job. Most clergy only serve their own members, which is fine within a congregation, but nowhere near enough to meet the needs of a mixed group.
I don't do it in any official capacity, but I do know how to do it and have provided support for random people before. I have some ways of accessing other faiths -- it's a lot like exchanging currency through a bank, but you have to know where to deposit the spiritual energy and how to signal the desired output. Or even request a lookup, like: "I'm at the scene of a car crash, could someone please dispatch a suitable spirit to assist possible deceased of unknown tradition?"
A system that deliberately chooses to favor some religions over others sends a chilling message that everyone else is unwelcome. And it will attract participants who are neither able nor willing to assist people outside their own faith. The rest will be left unsupported, or worse, attacked. Plus of course, some years down the line when wiser people try to fix this mess, they will be saddled with the unsuitable individuals recruited to the spiritual service during this time, who will be calling themselves "chaplains" but not doing that actual work.
The individual said that in the Army chaplaincy, the prime directive is to perform or provide for the free exercise of religion of all service members and their families. Essentially, those who cannot be identified struggle to receive the help they may require.
Exactly.
And of course, not having appropriate death rites for someone who dies a violent death -- which is a common occurrence in the military -- is just begging for trouble.
“All it takes is the chaplain to say, ‘Well, I don't see them on this list. I don't know how I can help you. Maybe go off the installation and see if you can find anybody who can work with you. Goodbye.' And that's it. That's not the American way.”
Previously, anyone whose faith was listed could team up with others and request facilities, supplies, a slot on the schedule, or other needs. So for instance, if there were several Wiccans on a base, they could request and receive what they needed to hold their own esbats, and not even need the chaplain's help other than filing the paperwork. Now they probably can't, and that's one of the goals of this change -- to prevent minority faiths from practicing.
“Having appropriate spiritual care is paramount for their well-being,” they said. “Stripping these codes, stripping the appropriate care aspects and leaving them identified as ‘other’ puts them at a risk of being re-traumatized or re-abused without it being intentional.
Oh, it's definitely intentional. It's an open attack on servicepeople's right to freedom of religion.
The organization’s co-founder, Mikey Weinstein, told Military.com that this new DOD list is a “middle finger to the United States Constitution’s separation of church and state.” The U.S. Air Force veteran said that codes like this have existed to perform services that sailors, soldiers, Marines, airmen or guardians want.
“Reducing the number of religious faiths from hundreds down to 31 is another absolute, clear, filthy and disgusting, unconstitutional, immoral and unethical attempt to force only the approved solution, getting closer and closer to Christian nationalism,” Weinstein said.
Let's just call a spade a fucking goddamned shovel. :D
The reforms mark the first time the list has been officially revised since a memo was issued March 27, 2017, decreasing the total number of faiths from 211 to its new number of 31.
Of surviving 31, 22 of them -- about 2/3 -- are Christian. Everyone else is an afterthought.
This restructuring of faith codes, which help identify service members as well as the military in planning for appropriated religious coverage to include them, has now excluded minority faith/worldview groups including Atheists, Asatru, Deists, Druids, Eckankar, Heathens, Humanists, Magick, New Age churches, Pagan, Rosicrucianism, Shaman, Spiritualists, Troth, Unitarian Universalists and various Wiccans.
Here's a practical example of cost to people who thought they wouldn't be impacted by the changes...
Old system:
"Begay, you're a Shaman, can you tell me how to disarm this mess of candles and symbols without setting it off?"
"Well sir, it's not my tradition, but most spells and curses dissipate harmlessly if dismantled by a natural force instead of a person. I'd set up a deadfall over it with a hair-trigger and walk away. If you need to use the general area, I can throw some cornmeal around for a quick blessing."
New system:
"Does anybody know how to disarm this mess?"
*silence*
Or worse, they just kick it apart because nobody knows better (or will say) and then wonder why everything is going wrong for the next moon but none of it shows up on a diagnostic.
A former U.S. Army chaplain who now serves as an endorser told Military.com the revised list is “horrible.”
“When I raised my hand to become an Army chaplain, I swore that I would support and defend the Constitution,” the individual, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Military.com. “The First Amendment is the free exercise of religion for everybody. That's what I was buying into.”
Well said.
And see, that's the difference between a chaplain anywhere and a clergyperson serving a specific congregation. A chaplain serves everyone of all faiths, and they are placed in situations where you just don't know whose religion might pop up in need of assistance. It takes a very different, very flexible personality to do that job. Most clergy only serve their own members, which is fine within a congregation, but nowhere near enough to meet the needs of a mixed group.
I don't do it in any official capacity, but I do know how to do it and have provided support for random people before. I have some ways of accessing other faiths -- it's a lot like exchanging currency through a bank, but you have to know where to deposit the spiritual energy and how to signal the desired output. Or even request a lookup, like: "I'm at the scene of a car crash, could someone please dispatch a suitable spirit to assist possible deceased of unknown tradition?"
A system that deliberately chooses to favor some religions over others sends a chilling message that everyone else is unwelcome. And it will attract participants who are neither able nor willing to assist people outside their own faith. The rest will be left unsupported, or worse, attacked. Plus of course, some years down the line when wiser people try to fix this mess, they will be saddled with the unsuitable individuals recruited to the spiritual service during this time, who will be calling themselves "chaplains" but not doing that actual work.
The individual said that in the Army chaplaincy, the prime directive is to perform or provide for the free exercise of religion of all service members and their families. Essentially, those who cannot be identified struggle to receive the help they may require.
Exactly.
And of course, not having appropriate death rites for someone who dies a violent death -- which is a common occurrence in the military -- is just begging for trouble.
“All it takes is the chaplain to say, ‘Well, I don't see them on this list. I don't know how I can help you. Maybe go off the installation and see if you can find anybody who can work with you. Goodbye.' And that's it. That's not the American way.”
Previously, anyone whose faith was listed could team up with others and request facilities, supplies, a slot on the schedule, or other needs. So for instance, if there were several Wiccans on a base, they could request and receive what they needed to hold their own esbats, and not even need the chaplain's help other than filing the paperwork. Now they probably can't, and that's one of the goals of this change -- to prevent minority faiths from practicing.
“Having appropriate spiritual care is paramount for their well-being,” they said. “Stripping these codes, stripping the appropriate care aspects and leaving them identified as ‘other’ puts them at a risk of being re-traumatized or re-abused without it being intentional.
Oh, it's definitely intentional. It's an open attack on servicepeople's right to freedom of religion.
The organization’s co-founder, Mikey Weinstein, told Military.com that this new DOD list is a “middle finger to the United States Constitution’s separation of church and state.” The U.S. Air Force veteran said that codes like this have existed to perform services that sailors, soldiers, Marines, airmen or guardians want.
“Reducing the number of religious faiths from hundreds down to 31 is another absolute, clear, filthy and disgusting, unconstitutional, immoral and unethical attempt to force only the approved solution, getting closer and closer to Christian nationalism,” Weinstein said.
Let's just call a spade a fucking goddamned shovel. :D
(no subject)
Date: 2026-06-07 07:17 pm (UTC)Hegseth thinks that the US took the wrong side in WW2, doesn't he. He's Wrong about that, and he intends to keep thinking that way and to keep making that thinking into USDoD policy. The man's a creep, a bigot and a fool.
Yes ...
Date: 2026-06-08 01:00 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2026-06-07 08:24 pm (UTC)Thoughts
Date: 2026-06-07 09:10 pm (UTC)Your hard work is appreciated.
>> It's disconcerting, even as Jewish and still technically included, that family, friends, and beloved teachers are literally Othered under this system. Let alone considering every Jew or Muslim as having the same spiritual needs when that list at least acknowledges that Baptist does not equal Catholic does not equal Presbyterian!<<
Yeah, I noticed that. They didn't even divide Sunni from Shi'ite and that is liable to start actual fights if you try to put them together. They've thrown a lot of wars over their spiritual disagreements.
Disgusting!
Date: 2026-06-08 01:57 am (UTC)There are DOZENS of sects of Buddhism, yet there's only the generalized category. I know of five sects of Judaism that seem to refuse to interact with others. Several Muslim sects have been fighting WARS among themselves since the Prophet's death. WHY is Christianity so specialized on their list when other, longstanding and legitimate, SEPARATE sects of other religions are NOT?
Bias.
Bias.
Bias.
And you know what happens to cloth cut on the bias? It sags. It can't support its own weight the way that fabric cut on the straight of grain can.
That whole mess is going to drag itself into fist-sized holes almost immediately. Which really doesn't speak well of any kind of Uniform Code (of Military Justice).
Re: Disgusting!
Date: 2026-06-08 02:06 am (UTC)I think most people not on the list of officially privileged religions will correctly conclude that admitting their different faith will paint a target on them, and will choose not to disclose. That's what Pagans did until a series of campaigns -- of which I was a supporter as a journalist -- got various Pagan religions added to the list. All have now been removed. Back to the starting block I guess.
>> Several Muslim sects have been fighting WARS among themselves since the Prophet's death. <<
Yeah, let's tell heavily armed Sunni and Shi'ite troops that they have to worship together. That'll go well.
>>WHY is Christianity so specialized on their list when other, longstanding and legitimate, SEPARATE sects of other religions are NOT?<<
Because they have more power.
>>And you know what happens to cloth cut on the bias? It sags. It can't support its own weight the way that fabric cut on the straight of grain can.<<
Well struck.
Re: Disgusting!
Date: 2026-06-08 02:20 pm (UTC)This is yet another chilling tactic, and the MASSIVE overrepresentation of Christianity is a glaring sign that the new rules have nothing at all to do with freedom of religion.
On the second reading, the fact that the "acceptable" list stops with "Sikh" actually highlights a key absence: Satanism. There are at least four major sects, but one of the major reasons for the existence of the faith is to poke holes in the blind spots, biases, and hypocrisies of Christianity in particular.
That it doesn't include Zoroastrianism pokes holes in any claim of 'respecting longevity' or 'cultural heritage'. That it doesn't include Shintoism can be, by a more cynical mind, be called deliberate erasure of Asian cultures in particular.
The second reading makes me scream "BS" in very high decibels with many, many more swear words.
ALL of this is from the viewpoint of a layperson with a high school diploma and passing interest in theology and comparative religions. If I can draw these conclusions faster than it took to read the article once, it's also easy to imagine how much this "simple procedural streamlining" will affect those who hold to a faith which is no longer "recognized".
Re: Disgusting!
Date: 2026-06-08 04:17 pm (UTC)But it's also true to America's roots. Each of the founders wanted to force everyone else to follow their own specific faith, but the founders were of different branches in Christianity. The only way that each could keep their own tradition was to allow others to keep theirs. Freedom of religion was not an ideal they believed in, but a grudging compromise. So it's no surprise that when people have the power to oppress other faiths, they do exactly that.
Re: Disgusting!
Date: 2026-06-08 06:02 pm (UTC)I'd go one step in another direction and support "Freedom from religion." I'm not the kind of atheist or agnostic who gets mad when our money says "In G-d we trust," because I'm also the person not typing that whole word because it upsets SOME members of one particular religion. But I get absolutely bone-deep TIRED of having Christianity presumed, thrown in my face like a very particular kind of flag, and so on. It's why I support secular schools, and grit my teeth through the whole "Santa Claus" thing in the eldest's fourth grade, when he attended public school.
We're not getting any freedom FROM Christianity in particular. Christians who own large companies are getting huge tax breaks while BREAKING Federal anti-discrimination laws, in particular.
The shadow of Christian theocracy is looming larger and larger, when I thought that 47 was an entirely different kind of threat to our personal and political freedoms.
Re: Disgusting!
Date: 2026-06-08 07:24 pm (UTC)Yes, we need that one -- all the more so today when most people have a camera but not the journalistic training to use it responsibly. The public's right to know deals in things like politicians misbehaving, but those are hard targets. It doesn't justify harassing disaster victims or even celebrities.
>> I'd go one step in another direction and support "Freedom from religion." <<
That one is also vital.
>>I'm not the kind of atheist or agnostic who gets mad when our money says "In G-d we trust," <<
I'd rather it didn't. America is not supposed to be a theocracy. But there are more important things to fight over.
>> But I get absolutely bone-deep TIRED of having Christianity presumed, thrown in my face like a very particular kind of flag, and so on.<<
Agreed. Pagans have been fighting that for decades.
>> It's why I support secular schools, and grit my teeth through the whole "Santa Claus" thing in the eldest's fourth grade, when he attended public school.<<
Hardcore Christians don't like Santa Claus and think that Christmas is Pagan. They're not far off.
>>Christians who own large companies are getting huge tax breaks while BREAKING Federal anti-discrimination laws, in particular.<<
I agree, that's a problem. I feel that religions should be free to set their own rules within their own space for their own members -- but never to impose those rules on outsiders from other faiths. That means if they want to have a business or anything else that is open to the public, they have to follow the nondiscrimination rules for the public, not their own rules. Only member-only facilities and services may reasonably enforce religious rules. That includes things like if a religious and a secular hospital merge, the result must be secular. It's only reasonable to have a member-only version is there is already a public, general version.
>>The shadow of Christian theocracy is looming larger and larger,<<
Yeah, it's a growing problem. As an activist I find it tedious and frustrating to be stuck redoing fights we already won decades ago. The loss of ground is a huge waste of time and energy.
Re: Disgusting!
Date: 2026-06-08 07:52 pm (UTC)With all of that, focusing on religion seems... less important.
That's how so many of these events happen, and the rest of us are stuck dealing with the consequences, feeling helpless and persecuted by neighbors and our own government, in different ways.
We have to stand together.
That was true when King George was soaking our ancestors to pay a corporate bailout to the East India Company.
It's still true now.
Human nature has not changed, but we have better tools to make sure that there's a buffer against the worst of human nature.
It's not going to be easy work. It never was and it never will be.
But I want a world that my grandchildren can live in, not merely survive. I'll put in the work wherever I can.
Re: Disgusting!
Date: 2026-06-08 08:33 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2026-06-08 09:40 am (UTC)Chris is agnostic. He got a lot of comfort from the home hospice chaplain when his mom was terminal. This is the same husband who has no problem taking me to my LCMS church and staying with me throughout. (Yes, I have a great hubby.) Chaplains are special.
Thoughts
Date: 2026-06-08 06:35 pm (UTC)Agreed. It is not legal, but people in power tend to be above the law.
>> Chris is agnostic. He got a lot of comfort from the home hospice chaplain when his mom was terminal.<<
That's a good chaplain. Supporting agnostic, atheist, humanist, etc. people can be tricky for a spiritual advisor because you have to look for practical and mortal aspects rather than any higher power.
>> This is the same husband who has no problem taking me to my LCMS church and staying with me throughout. (Yes, I have a great hubby.) <<
You definitely have a great hubby. \o/
>> Chaplains are special.<<
Sooth. A world full of mixed traditions has a need for people who can support whomever shows up.