'Hegseth gave the whole thing away' with his anti-Mormon policy: analyst

White evangelicals are just 13% of the American population. But according to one columnist, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is building a Pentagon that looks a lot like their church — and writer Amanda Marcotte says that's no accident.When the Pentagon cut its official list of military religious designations from 211 to 31 earlier this month, it left out one group that expected to be included: Latter-day Saints. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints wasn't classified as Christian at all.Meanwhile, atheists, Wiccans, and pagans were removed entirely. Muslims and Jews were folded into single catch-all entries. Christians got 21 subcategories.That's "extremely concerning," said Matthew D. Taylor, a visiting scholar at Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs. "The ideological consolidation of the military is something that we have historically not wanted."For Salon'a Marcotte, the Mormon exclusion wasn't a bureaucratic mistake — she contends it was a glimpse of the endgame.To build the "Christian nation" they envision, Marcotte writes, white evangelicals need votes from the other 87% — Black Protestants, Hispanic Catholics, white mainline Protestants, Mormons, and non-churchgoing conservatives who reliably pull the lever for President Donald Trump. That means, she argues, making all of them believe they're insiders."In playing these games," Marcotte writes, "Hegseth gave the whole thing away."Robert Jeffress — the Southern Baptist megachurch pastor and Trump ally who has repeatedly called Mormonism a "cult" — spoke in person at the administration-backed Rededicate 250 rally on the National Mall last month. Hegseth addressed the crowd by video. The speaker list was overwhelmingly white and evangelical. No Mormon leaders were invited. No Black church leaders. A few Catholics appeared on the program.Marcotte contends that the rally was the public showcase of a longer project. Since taking the Pentagon, Hegseth has hosted monthly worship services in the building's auditorium — every invited preacher a white evangelical, every sermon evangelical in character.Pastor Douglas Wilson, a leader of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, told troops that bearing the name of Jesus Christ is "no armor greater than that." Evangelist Franklin Graham asked uniformed service members whether they knew God is "a god of war," then quoted scripture ordering enemies killed without mercy — women, children, livestock.At a March prayer service tied to the Iran war, Hegseth himself prayed for "overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy."A February 2026 PRRI survey of more than 22,000 adults found white evangelical Protestants are the only religious group with majority support for Christian nationalist views — 67% qualify as adherents or sympathizers.Among the groups being courted for their votes, the numbers drop sharply: just 43% of Black Protestants, 35% of white Catholics, and 31% of Hispanic Catholics qualify as supporters. More than two-thirds of Hispanic Catholics reject Christian nationalism outright.Black Protestants, Hispanic Catholics, Hispanic Protestants, and other Christians of color together make up roughly a quarter of the U.S. population. White mainline Protestants and white Catholics account for another quarter."Once the principle of religious discrimination against non-Christians is established in American law," Marcotte writes, "the next step was always going to be reclassifying huge swathes of Christians as non-Christians, so they can be marginalized, too."Tensions are also emerging regarding Catholics. Pope Leo XIV's Vatican has repeatedly condemned the Iran war — putting it in direct conflict with what Taylor has called Hegseth's religiously charged war rhetoric. Evangelicals, Marcotte points out, "would love to push the Catholics out over this, and will, the second it's politically viable."Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) called the Mormon exclusion "repugnant," phoned Trump, and got a reversal within days.Lee welcomed the fix — but the reversal reportedly dropped the "Christian" label from several groupings rather than extend it to Mormons. Marcotte asserts the evangelical in-group held regardless."They're coming for other Christians, too," Marcotte writes.