Understanding the Constitution, Religion, and Unitarian Universalism in the Military

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

You perhaps heard the news that was broken by military.com last week that under Pete Hegseth, the Department of Defense removed 180 religions and denominations from the military's list of faith codes. One of those religions was Unitarian Universalism. The Unitarian Universalist Association responded with a public statement:

We send our unwavering support for Unitarian Universalists (UU) in uniform and our UU military chaplains. We recently learned the Department of Defense (DOD) has removed 180 separate religious affiliations from the US military’s list of religious affiliation codes. This eliminates the code for Unitarian Universalists, as well as Humanists, Atheists and Pagan traditions, and many others. Along with dozens of other religious traditions, UUs will be categorized broadly under “Other” in military’s religious affiliation codes.

Please note this decision does not directly impact the status of our UU military chaplains, who are authorized through a separate faith-based endorsement process with the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). What it does mean is that Unitarian Universalist service members will not be able to select their specific religious identity in their personnel records. This may make it more difficult for our uniformed UUs to access the spiritual care that they need.

At this time, we are diligently working with our UUA counsel and partners in a variety of faith traditions to craft a strategic response that faithfully represents our values and demonstrates clear support for our UU service members and their families, as well as all those who are impacted by this DOD policy.

We will share more information when it is available. But today, we declare that no government action can erase our faith nor lessen the powerful and necessary grounding it provides for those who serve.

So what does this mean?

In a practical sense, very little. It doesn't affect UU military chaplaincy, symbols on gravestones in military cemeteries, nor the free exercise of all in the military of their sincerely held beliefs. It absolutely does not affect anything outside the military, like nonprofit status or tax exemption.

In my opinion, it absolutely should be seen as offensive, and a method of implying what religions are legitimate, even if it holds no legal weight. The motives of Pete Hegseth can be logically drawn from his embrace of Christian nationalists, establishment of monthly prayer meetings at the Pentagon, and the use of violent Christian rhetoric. And then there are his own words: "Protecting our culture and our religion from godless ideologies and pagan religions is not political, it is biblical."

AND: just because there are Christian nationalists in the highest seats of power does not mean that the rule of law has vanished, though sometimes we may feel disheartened and wonder if that is true. Our courts have rejected unconstitutional policies and I believe, will continue to do so, especially if we keep speaking out.

Sunday after church, someone with more military expertise than I will be on hand to explain more about the removal of Unitarian Universalism from the military code list and what it does and doesn't mean.