Nicolai Haugsted
Pete Hegseth faces fresh criticism over religion as atheist service members say their identity has been erased.
Pete Hegseth has made religion a highly visible part of his leadership at the Pentagon.
Now a seemingly bureaucratic change to military personnel records has opened another front in the argument over faith in the armed forces.
Airmen are complaining after discovering that atheism is no longer available as a specific option under the Defense Department’s dramatically shortened list of religious affiliations. One service member says the change effectively prevents them from identifying in military records the same way they have for years.
Critics have gone further, accusing the Pentagon of creating an environment that increasingly favors Christianity.
The Air Force rejects the suggestion that religious freedom is being weakened and describes the new system as an administrative change designed to standardize records and help chaplains allocate resources.
An atheist suddenly loses the atheist option
The controversy follows the Air Force’s September 25 implementation of standardized Religious Affiliation Codes across its personnel systems.
Airmen and Guardians have been instructed to update their affiliation as part of the transition.
One airman contacted the Military Religious Freedom Foundation after discovering that “atheist” was no longer among the choices.
“If my previous [withheld] years of service while being an atheist was good enough, why is it no longer?” the service member wrote.
The airman said the discovery came while attempting to update their records.
“I attempted to update my code this afternoon and to my outrage found that atheist is no longer an option, an option I have chosen for my previous [withheld] years of service.”
Atheist personnel can instead select categories including “no religion” or “other religion.”
For the airman who complained, that workaround misses the point.
“That is not the point,” the service member wrote. “I along with many other service members, are atheists that do not believe in god.”
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation said it had received 38 similar complaints by Saturday afternoon, according to Military.com.
More than 200 choices became 31
The disagreement traces back several months.
Hegseth’s Defense Department reduced its official list from 211 faith and belief codes to 31 in June, removing roughly 180 classifications.
Atheism was not alone in disappearing as a separate designation. Humanism and numerous smaller religious traditions were also removed.
American Atheists subsequently filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking records explaining how the Pentagon decided which affiliations survived the overhaul and whether the Armed Forces Chaplains Board had been consulted.
The organization also noted that 21 of the 31 remaining categories were Christian denominations, a figure it has cited while criticizing the decision.
A cross in an official photo raises eyebrows
Friday’s Air Force announcement managed to add another ingredient to the dispute.
Publicity accompanying the rollout included an image of a military chaplain wearing a cross.
A former military chaplain who identifies as Christian told Military.com that the imagery sent a “crystal clear” message and described it as an “attempt to push Christianity onto the troops,” adding that “there’s implicit intimidation there.”
That interpretation represents the former chaplain’s criticism rather than an established explanation for why the Air Force selected the photograph or why the codes were changed.
Air Force officials have presented a very different explanation.
“Our commitment to the spiritual readiness and religious freedom of every Airman and Guardian remains steadfast,” Richard Anderson, assistant secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, said.
“Transitioning to these standardized codes ensures our Chaplain Corps has the accurate demographic data they need to provide tailored resources and support to our Service members, while continuing to respect their individual convictions.”
Officials say the change will not reduce chaplain services or religious support. Service members also remain free to specify a religious preference for their identification tags without being restricted to the 31 personnel-system codes.
