The United States Department of Defense has introduced a new system for categorizing the religious beliefs of military personnel. This change has led to formal complaints from members of the Utah congressional delegation.

美國國防部推出了一套新系統來將軍方人員的宗教信仰分門別類，而這個改變導致猶他州國會代表團成員正式提出投訴。

The Department of Defense recently changed its 2017 system, which used about 220 different religious codes, to a simpler system with only 31 categories. This consolidation removed specific labels for groups such as Atheists, Humanists, and Wiccans, instead grouping many religions into larger categories. While the Pentagon claims that personnel can still list their specific faith on identification tags, critics argue that reducing the number of codes may erase minority beliefs and make demographic data less accurate.

國防部最近將 2017 年那套使用約 220 個不同宗教代碼的系統，改為一個僅有 31 個類別的簡單系統。這次整合刪除了無神論者 (Atheists)、人文主義者 (Humanists) 及威卡教徒 (Wiccans) 等特定標籤，而是將許多宗教歸入較大的類別中。雖然五角大廈聲稱人員在識別牌上仍可列出其特定信仰，但批評者認為減少代碼數量可能會抹除少數信仰，使人口統計數據 kurang 精確。

A major point of disagreement concerns The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Although the church has its own category, it was not included under the general 'Christian' label. Senators Mike Lee and John Curtis have described this as an unacceptable mistake, as the church defines itself as Christian. Consequently, the senators have asked the government to update the policy to match the religion's own identity.

一個主要的爭論點 concerns 耶穌基督後期聖徒教會。雖然該教會擁有自己的類別，但並未被列入一般的「基督教」標籤下。參議員 Mike Lee 與 John Curtis 將其描述為一個不可接受的錯誤，因為該教會將自己定義為基督教。因此，兩位參議員要求政府更新政策，以符合該宗教的自身認同。

In response, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell emphasized that the changes are purely for logistical reasons. He stated that the previous system was too difficult to manage and that the new version helps chaplains better understand the needs of their units. Furthermore, the Department of Defense asserted that it still protects First Amendment rights, claiming that the new codes are not meant to judge the legitimacy of any faith.

對此，五角大廈發言人 Sean Parnell 強調，這些改變純粹是基於後勤管理原因。他表示之前的系統過於困難地管理，而新版本能幫助軍中牧師更好地了解其單位的需求。此外，國防部堅稱其依然保護第一修正案的權利，聲稱新代碼並非旨在評判任何信仰的合法性。

The Department of Defense continues to defend the need for these simplified codes, even as legislators pressure them to change how the Latter-day Saint faith is classified.

儘管立法者施壓要求更改後期聖徒信仰的分類方式，但國防部依然繼續為簡化代碼的必要性辯護。