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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Tiffany Stanley

Defense Department slashes its religious designations list from more than 200 choices to 31

Pentagon Pete Hegseth Sean Parnell Religion
Military Religious Faiths - (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

The Department of Defense announced on Friday a significant reduction in the number of religious affiliations it officially recognizes.

The new list of 31 is down from more than 200 previously recognized traditions that troops could choose from. The list no longer includes atheists, Unitarian Universalists, pagans and Wiccans.

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