Religious freedom has always been central to the American promise. It protects the right to worship freely and rejects the idea that politicians get to decide whose faith counts.
The Trump administration sparked outrage after the Pentagon changed military religious-affiliation categories that treated The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as separate from Christianity. That decision disregards how members of the LDS faith understand their belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Recognition was also removed for other faith traditions, including Unitarian Universalists, Spiritualists, New Age faiths, atheists, and others. For service members across these traditions, religious-affiliation records can affect how their faith is recognized by the military in moments of service, crisis, and loss.
This moment exposes a serious danger. For years, far-right politicians and activists have blurred the line between faith and government. They have pushed state-sponsored religion in public schools and used a hardline religious viewpoint to attack libraries, health care, reproductive freedom, and LGBTQ Idahoans. Acting as the morality police, they want to dictate what we can read, who we can love, and what health care we can receive.
The separation of church and state exists to prevent this. It keeps politicians from dictating doctrine, shields houses of worship, and ensures public institutions serve every Idaho family.
Idaho understands this well. Many Latter-day Saint families carry a history of persecution and exclusion. That history is a reminder that government should never be trusted with religious tests, especially now that the same impulse is gaining power here at home.
The Secretary of Defense who made this move has ties to Christ Church in Moscow. Its leaders have become some of the loudest voices pushing a narrow political vision. They openly argue that Latter-day Saints are not Christians, that wives must submit to their husbands, and even that women should give up their right to vote.
The Idaho Family Policy Center is advancing the same politics of control, calling for our state to be governed by its interpretation of the Bible. Its influence is already visible in the Republican supermajority, where lawmakers pushed bills to force Bible readings in public schools, require Ten Commandments displays in classrooms, and subsidize religious schools with public tax dollars.
Faith can be a positive force in our communities, calling people to service, humility, sacrifice, and love of neighbor. We see that across Idaho every day, in food banks, church service projects, and quiet acts of care.
But faith loses something sacred when politicians use it as a tool for power.
While the Trump administration backpedaled after public outcry, its actions should ring alarm bells. Idahoans should reject any movement in which politicians seek to police belief, define Christianity, or decide who belongs.
Onward,
Lauren Necochea
Idaho Democratic Party Chair