Washington, D.C. — Today, American Atheists submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Department of Defense after Secretary Pete Hegseth announced major changes to the list of faiths and beliefs that members of the armed forces can officially designate for themselves. The new list eliminates more than 180 of the 211 previously existing codes, including: Atheists, Humanists, and Unitarian Universalists.
American Atheists’ latest FOIA request seeks official records that will help shed light on how this decision was made and whether Hegseth sought the input of the Armed Forces Chaplains Board, as well as descriptions of the religious demographics of the armed forces.
Geoffrey T. Blackwell, Legal Director at American Atheists, released the following statement:
These changes deny nonreligious members of our armed forces the opportunity to seek the same protections available to their theistic comrades. Just because they have nontheistic beliefs doesn’t mean they can be deprived of their right to be recognized, hold meetings, or to seek accommodations when faced with violations of their sincerely held beliefs.
Prior changes to faith codes were the result of recommendations from the Armed Forces Chaplains Board. It is unclear whether Hegseth relied on or even sought the input of the Board before making this substantial change. In addition to impacting atheist and other nonreligious servicemembers, the change erases distinctions between different sects of Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and numerous other faiths.
This is just the latest action taken by this administration to privilege certain religious viewpoints — namely those of conservative Christians — at the expense of atheists, humanists, and minority religious communities.
FOIAs like this one, as well as others filed by American Atheists in recent months, will help us continue to call public attention to this administration’s abuses of power and mistreatment of those who have chosen to dedicate their lives to the defense of the United States. American Atheists previously sought information about the Trump Administration’s use of government agencies to proselytize to government employees and actively promote religious events.
