Out of many, some

“Out of many, some.” 

Ah, yes, the American way. At least according to the Department of Defense, which has officially discharged 180 belief systems — including atheism — from its list of recognized religious affiliations. 

The faith code system had been expanded in 2017 under the first Trump Administration to better reflect religious preferences in the ranks. Now the second Trump Administration says that was “impractical and unusable,” and drastic cuts are necessary to “streamline.” 

It’s tough to buy that this is about efficiency when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been so clear it’s about exclusion. 

Like in March, when he described the Army Chaplain Corps as being “infected by political correctness and secular humanism.” Or all the times he’s hosted Christian worship services at the Pentagon or invoked scripture when talking about the conflict in Iran. The DOD’s revised list reflects his narrow and exclusionary worldview: Of the remaining 31 faiths, 21 are Christian denominations. 

Everyone else is compressed into two handfuls of broad categories that erase distinct identities. Sunni or Shi’a? Makes no difference; just pick Muslim. Orthodox or Reform? It’s all Jewish-ish. Then there are the groups who didn’t make the cut at all: Atheists, Humanists, Deists and Unitarian Universalists (sorry, Ben Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, and both John Adamses), and many more. 

The Department of Veterans Affairs still recognizes more than 80 emblems of belief for military headstones, including atheism. Apparently, this is a government more willing to recognize soldiers after we’re dead than while we’re serving.

White Christian Nationalists like to say there are no atheists in foxholes, but they’re wrong. I’ve met them. I’ve served beside them. I am one: a proud atheist and U.S. combat veteran. And try as they might, no memo, list, or political appointee can change the fact that American Atheists exist. 

My brothers and sisters in arms came from every background and belief. We took the same oath. We deployed together. And we fought for the same godless Constitution — not for Hegseth’s Crusade. 

In fact, he’s exactly the kind of figure our Founding Fathers feared: an ideologue more dedicated to his own dogma than to democracy. But the United States won its independence, survived a civil war, and defeated fascism not because our military united around a single religion but around the principle of freedom. 

These faith codes aren’t just bureaucratic labels, either. They represent real people serving this country. They represent which belief systems the government privileges and which they consider illegitimate. 

And they help determine how service members access support, accommodations, and care. One veteran who served three tours in Iraq, is ordained in multiple pagan traditions (which wasn’t a recognized affiliation until 2007), and has a doctorate of ministry in interreligious chaplaincy recounted that their unit chaplain “took every opportunity to use their rank to try and evangelize and convert me” rather than provide the support they were seeking. 

So, Hegseth isn’t just erasing categories but eliminating visibility and recognition that, in many cases, were only granted after decades of hard-fought advocacy. Of course, that regressive flattening is the goal of White Christian Nationalists who want to impose their beliefs on everyone and other-ize anyone who disagrees. But that isn’t the American way, and it is our civic duty to remind today’s leaders that the laws and liberties of this great nation apply to all people — not just those who adhere to a certain faith. 

Which is why after serving our country, I’m now an atheist activist proudly serving as Iowa State Director for American Atheists and President of Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers. 

On June 20, we’re partnering with the Humanist Society of Iowa to host the Iowa Secular Summit. The very same day and over 1,700 miles away in California, American Atheists is teaming up with Atheists United and Pacific Unitarian to host the Reimagining America Summit and explore what a truly inclusive future could look like.

While White Christian Nationalists like Hegseth are deciding who is worthy of recognition, American Atheists is refusing to leave anyone behind. Across the country, our 200+ affiliate groups are defending church-state separation, strengthening local communities, and ensuring nonreligious Americans have a voice.

When a government starts trying to narrow down who counts, the answer isn’t complacency — it’s organizing. And I know something about that. This past Tuesday, I won my Iowa primary race and will be on the ballot in November for a county supervisor position — as a loud and proud atheist. It wasn’t too long ago that would have been unthinkable. 

But it’s what’s possible when we stand together to defend secular democracy. So, volunteer for a campaign. Write a letter to the editor. Join a group near you. Show up to an event. And if you’re able, donate to American Atheists. 

Because they may be able to remove some labels from a list, but they cannot erase millions of nonreligious Americans — not while we keep speaking out and showing up, and not while American Atheists is working to build a country where everyone counts. 

Together,

Jason Benell
Iowa State Director