Putting God back in 'degraded' US Chaplain Corps: Hegseth axes pagan codes and New Age guides

Earlier this week, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced that he would be overhauling yet another aspect of the military: the Chaplain Corps.

On Tuesday, Hegseth explained a directive that will effectively overhaul the United States Chaplain Corps, "the spiritual and moral backbone of our nation's forces" that, for hundreds of years, "ministered" to the "souls" of American servicemen and women, as he explained in the video.

'In an atmosphere of political correctness and secular humanism, chaplains have been minimized, viewed by many as therapists instead of ministers.'

Hegseth recounted the long history of the Chaplain Corps, which dates back to 1775, when George Washington himself established it. The "weakening" of this important institution has become "a real problem for our nation's military," Hegseth said.

"Sadly, as part of the ongoing war on warriors, in recent decades its role has been degraded," Hegseth said in the video. "In an atmosphere of political correctness and secular humanism, chaplains have been minimized, viewed by many as therapists instead of ministers. Faith and virtue were traded for self-help and self-care."

RELATED: Troops who refused COVID shot to receive retroactive honor to 'right the wrongs of the past': Hegseth

Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/For The Washington Post via Getty Images

As evidence of the New Age influence in the military, Hegseth referred to the United States Army's Spiritual Fitness Guide, which mentions "God" only once and "virtue" not at all, even as 82% of the military identify as "religious."

Hegseth ordered the elimination of this "unacceptable and unserious" Spiritual Fitness Guide and the simplification of the Faith and Belief Coding System, an "overly complex" classification system of over 200 different beliefs.

The Faith and Belief Code was apparently expanded in March 2017. The expansion went into more detailed distinctions among Protestant denominations, and it included alternate belief systems like "Magick and Spiritualist," "Wicca," "Pagan," "New Age Churches," "Humanist," and "Heathen."

Hegseth promised more changes in the near future, saying that there will be a "top-down cultural shift" in the military that puts "spiritual well-being on the same footing as mental and physical health."

"We are going to make the Chaplain Corps great again," he posted on X.

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