The Defense Department moved last month to cut roughly 180 religion codes from its previous list of about 220 recognized faiths.
The new list, expected to take effect in July, recognizes 31 religious categories, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Baha’i, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, and non-religion. Christian denominations make up the majority of the new recognized religion categories. The military notes that individuals can still list religions not among the named 31 on their dog tags.
