For years, Americans have been told that government must remain neutral regarding religion.
Apparently that principle now has exceptions.
Under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Department of Defense dramatically reduced its list of recognized religious affiliations from more than 200 classifications to just 31. While Pentagon officials insist the change is merely administrative, the consequences tell a different story.
Among the most troubling aspects of this restructuring is the apparent decision to separate The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the Christian category.
Think about what that means.
A federal agency led by political appointees is now effectively making theological judgments about the faith of millions of Americans.
Since when did the Pentagon become an ecclesiastical council?
The question of whether Latter-day Saints are Christian has been debated for generations among theologians. Evangelicals, Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and Latter-day Saints themselves have offered competing views. That debate belongs in churches, seminaries, religious publications, and among believers.
It does not belong in the Department of Defense.
The federal government has neither the constitutional authority nor the theological expertise to declare which denominations qualify as “real Christians” and which do not.
Latter-day Saints worship Jesus Christ as the Son of God, pray in His name, study the Bible, teach His divinity, and openly identify themselves as followers of Jesus Christ. Whether other denominations agree with LDS theology is beside the point. In a nation built upon religious liberty, government officials should not be in the business of settling doctrinal disputes.
The irony is difficult to ignore.
Many conservatives have spent years criticizing progressive bureaucrats for inserting ideology into federal institutions. Yet if a government official can decide that one church is Christian while another is not, then the principle of government neutrality has already been abandoned.
Today it may be Latter-day Saints.
Tomorrow it could be Catholics.
The next day it could be Baptists, Pentecostals, Orthodox Christians, or any other denomination that falls out of favor with whoever happens to be in power.
Religious liberty is not protected when government officials approve of your faith.
Religious liberty is protected when government officials stay out of the question altogether.
The Pentagon’s mission is national defense, not theological arbitration.
American service members come from every faith tradition. They deserve a military that respects their constitutional rights without attempting to categorize their beliefs according to the personal theology of political leaders.
The government should defend the freedom of religion, not define religion.
And it certainly should not presume to decide who is, or is not, Christian.
The controversy also raises a deeper question: by what standard is the government making this determination?
Historically, many of the arguments used to exclude The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from Christianity are rooted not in the Bible itself, but in adherence to the Nicene Creed and later theological formulations developed centuries after Christ’s earthly ministry.
Many denominations regard acceptance of those creeds as the dividing line between orthodox Christianity and other faith traditions. Latter-day Saints, however, openly reject the idea that fourth-century councils possess authority equal to divine revelation. Whether one agrees with that position or not, it is difficult to ignore the appearance that government officials may be adopting a particular creedal interpretation of Christianity and embedding it within federal policy. In a nation founded upon religious liberty, the state should not be in the business of favoring Nicene Christianity over non-Nicene Christianity, nor should it presume authority to settle theological disputes that believers themselves have debated for centuries.
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