Mormon leaders, military veterans and elected officials reacted with anger to a new Department of Defense policy that does not consider The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be a Christian religion as part of a wider effort to cut down the U.S. military’s list of recognized faiths.
“The Pentagon’s decision to list The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints apart from other Christian faiths is wrong and needs to be corrected,” Republican Rep. Mike Kennedy, of heavily Mormon Utah, wrote on X on Sunday.
If you think the average person can understand what it is like to give up ultimate control of your life in 6-year chunks, I have some bad news for you.
People in the military are bound by law to do whatever is necessary for the mission regardless of the cost to them. For over 20 years, I lived moment to moment assuming that with no notice, I could be sent to the other side of the globe without my immediate family. During my time in, I was deployed to a remote country, in a war zone, with no notice, while my wife dealt with the consequences. During that time, I had very limited contact with my spouse, and what time I did have was regularly interrupted with literal attacks that could have killed me.
Beyond my experience there, my spouse had to deal with the fact that I would occasionally just leave in the middle of a call, because rocket attack.
So, pardon me if I am skeptical of your claim that most people can understand that I now drive past litter on the side of the road cautiously because it might be a bomb. And that is just the start of the weird differences I have experienced transitioning from military life into being a civilian.