DAVIS COUNTY, Utah — No one in the state might be better suited to speak on the Department of Defense's short-lived decision to exclude the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the list of "Christian" religions than former Utah congressman Chris Stewart.
A member of the LDS Church, Stewart served in the U.S. Air Force for over a decade flying jets such as the B-1B bomber before being elected to Congress in 2012.
So when Stewart first heard of the classification issue over the weekend, he was offended.
“Military is pretty deep in our family DNA, and at the same time, we’re very faithful in my faith in the Church of Jesus Christ," explained Steward. "That’s why this thing the Pentagon did was deeply offensive to me and arrogant thing to do.
"Such a misstep."
On Monday, after a tremendous amount of backlash from current political leaders in Utah, the Pentagon reorganized its religions by denomination and removed the Christian category.
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Hill Air Force Base is a prominent part of Davis County and the home to people of many religions, including members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Stewart said there aren’t many LDS Chaplains in the military, so they often go to other chaplains in the Christian community.
“A lot of us would talk to them, and we were glad for their support, but doesn’t it make it harder now for those chaplains to be told, ‘Well, the LDS community isn’t Christian, so they’re not really your responsibility,'" said Stewart. "It’s just bonkers.
"Again, such a misreading of the military environment and an entire misreading of my faith and what we actually believe.”
While Stewart admitted the original Department of Defense decision could have impacted many military members, he was glad the Pentagon corrected it so quickly.
Current 3rd District Congressman Mike Kennedy immediately reached out to the Department of Defense after learning about the omission over the weekend.
"And based on the efforts of not only myself but also our congressional delegation, including our good senators, as we were able to actually get this designation altered to the point where it's in an agreeable position at this point for, as far as I can tell, everybody," Kennedy said.
Kennedy said the idea of government making determinations about religious doctrine is not good.
"I'm all for a government efficiency, but the idea that government in some arbitrary fashion is going to label people as Christian or not is, I think, a very unhealthy exercise, and I'm glad that Pete Hegseth, the Department of War have actually agreed with the analysis that Senator Lee, Senator Curtis, and my congressional colleagues have offered to them that, let's just get out of that business and allow the chaplains to do the work that they should do in the military service that they render," Kennedy said.
Kennedy said it is remarkable that within less than 48 hours of the original list being released, the Pentagon was able to release the revised list.
Some members of the LDS Church said they had no idea the omission had happened. Others who knew about it said they were surprised and aren't sure the change completely fixes the issue.
Church member Ryan Randolph said the faith is Christian.
"Any church that worships Jesus Christ, and has Jesus Christ as the center of their religion, is a Christian church," Randolph said.
Fellow church member Samuel Coleman said the omission raised questions about how the decision was made.
"We identify ourselves as Christians, and so maybe perhaps the decision process, maybe just the rumors of the LDS Church, wasn't thought out as much," Coleman said.
Church members said without question they are Christian and hope the omission was truly just a mistake.
