What The 31 Religions Should Tell Pete Hegseth

       One would think that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth would be so occupied with the disaster of a war our country is currently quagmired in - at a cost to the American people of $850 million to $2 billion per day - that he'd have no time for such trivial pursuits as the suppression of religious faith among military service members.
           And yet Pete Hegseth has apparently been frittering away his time drawing up a list that drops 180 faiths from the U.S. military's code of recognized religions and belief systems. Per Hegseth's new order, the Department of Defense now acknowledges among service members the existence of only 31 religious affiliations, 22 of these religions  designated as Christian - the A List religions, as it were.  
           After the new exclusionary list came out the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints were outraged, as well they should have been. Except that they were outraged for the wrong reason: the Mormons were angry that they weren't included among those religions named as Christian, such as the Catholics, Baptists, Lutherans, etc., but rather were lumped in with Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and the other B List religions.
           What actually should have infuriated the Mormons was the very existence of this exclusionary list. In fact, this list that includes some religions and cancels  others should have raised the righteous ire of each of the 31 religions that won a spot on Hegseth's list. 
         The leaders of each of Hegseth's  chosen religions, whether they are among his top-tier Christians or relegated to a lesser seat at the lunch table,  should unite in a spirit of solidarity, rise up together and refuse to be part of a military religious hierarchy that discriminates and otherizes.         
         The 31 chosen should tell Hegseth to either restore the former Department of Defense list of all the religions that he dropped or take them off his list, too.                            Good soldiers never leave each other behind.

Reference:
https://www.military.com/dod-officially-drops-180-faiths-from-militarys-recognized-religion-list
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