When the Pentagon decides atheists, humanists, pagans, and more don’t belong, the message is clear: The government values some people more than others.
You’ve probably heard by now that the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), under the direction of Pete Hegseth, reduced the number of recognized faiths and beliefs from 211 to just 31 — 21 of which are Christian denominations. Among the 180 groups eliminated? Atheists.
American Atheists is demanding answers.
Yesterday, we sent the DOD a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Specifically, we want to find out how the decision was made to include 31 codes and exclude 180 others. Did they consult with the Armed Forces Chaplain Board? Did they seek any input? Did they review the religious demographics of the armed forces? And what are those demographics, anyway?
Help us hold them accountable. Donate now!
The list, which was first leaked last week, has received a ton of blowback from all corners of the country. Besides the groups that were taken off entirely, it also erases important distinctions among faith traditions like Judaism and Islam. Even Mormons are up in arms that the federal government categorized them as not Christian.
But nothing about this comes as a surprise to our team. It’s just the latest in a long series of White Christian Nationalist attacks. And it’s the logical end of an extreme and theocratic ideology intent on amassing power to lord over everyone else.
Spokespeople for the DOD have said their intention isn’t to engage in theological debates. But that’s exactly what it did. And it’s precisely why the Founders wrote the Establishment Clause: to avoid messy entanglements of religion and government that ultimately harm the free exercise of the former and the appropriate functionality of the latter.
But maybe, just maybe, as a result of the DOD’s gross overreach, some religious Americans are beginning to see that church-state separation protects us all.
These faith codes are far more than bureaucratic labels. They represent real people and impact whether servicemembers can seek accommodations, access support, form affinity groups, and have their sincerely held beliefs — including nontheistic beliefs — recognized by the institution they serve.
So, when the Pentagon decides atheists, humanists, pagans, and more don’t belong, the message is clear: The government values some people more than others.
You don’t need to be a lawyer to understand that’s unconstitutional. And you don’t need to be a political operative to see how this all fits into a broader pattern of White Christian Nationalists abusing government power to privilege certain viewpoints and punish others. The unprecedented level of overreach we’re witnessing requires more than mailing an angry letter to Hegseth’s trash bin.
That’s why American Atheists has issued almost a dozen FOIA requests in recent months as part of our Christian Nationalist Transparency Project, and we have no intention of stopping there. With your support, we’ll keep demanding information, pursuing justice, and exposing these abuses of authority against atheists, taxpayers, and all Americans.
Our ability to do this important work, though, depends entirely on supporters like you. FOIA requests require research, legal expertise, persistence, and — if and when agencies refuse to comply — the resources necessary to challenge them in court. Your investment in that work helps American Atheists uncover what White Christian Nationalists would rather keep hidden — and then hold them accountable.
If you care as much as we do about defending secular democracy from wanna-be theocrats, please give $25 or more today in support of our legal work.
As Jason Benell — an atheist, combat veteran, and our Iowa State Director — put it this past weekend: “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.”
In solidarity,
Geoffrey T. Blackwell
Legal Director
We oppose the outsourcing of public responsibilities to religious groups that believe some families are more worthy than others — like mine.
From fighting harmful policies to ensuring atheists have access to secular resources, American Atheists is working nationwide to advance religious equality for all.
The White Christian Nationalist movement’s goal is indoctrination, not free inquiry. Not to understand our history, but to rewrite it.
