WASHINGTON — Utah Sens. Mike Lee (R) and John Curtis (R) did not hold back after the U.S Department of Defense decision to not declare The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints a Christian religion.
In a social media post Saturday, Curtis said he was working to make sure a "correction is made."
On Friday, the department led by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, announced it was paring down its list of religious designations from the hundreds, down to 31, of which the LDS Church was included, but not among the list of Christian religions.
Among the religions classified as Christian were Catholicism, Orthodox Christian, Baptist and Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The Pentagon claimed the move to slash religions from the list was made to provide its chaplains with "clear" information to enable them to support the religious needs of military members.
"Latter-day Saints are among the most patriotic, service-oriented individuals in our country. They are also unequivocally Christian—just look at who is in the name of the Church," wrote Curtis. "It is unacceptable for a government entity to characterize a faith in a manner that contradicts the religion’s own foundational tenets."
Sen. Lee also used social media to share his thoughts on the decision, asking, "Can anyone tell me why The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was left out of the list of Christian churches?"
The move brought condemnation from various religions, even ones included on the list and as Christian.
“Secretary Hegseth is not ‘streamlining’ anything. He is elevating one narrow religious worldview from the top of the chain of command,” the Rev. Paul Raushenbush, a Baptist minister and head of the progressive Interfaith Alliance told the Associated Press. “The First Amendment does not allow the government to create a hierarchy of faiths, and it certainly does not allow the Pentagon to decide which beliefs are worthy of recognition.”
