Alton seems to be a center of interest in the paranormal, maybe especially as Halloween approaches. War’s wounds continue to haunt us. As I write this, I will travel across the river to a program on moral injury and veterans. I came of age when the Vietnam War was winding down, but met plenty of people who served in that terrible action. They were rarely welcomed even by veterans organizations at times. They did not adjust well to civilian life, and they numbed their pain with alcohol and drugs. As a reaction to that, we mouth words about supporting our troops, but rarely do I notice concerted efforts toward veterans in dire circumstances.
While about 7% of the population served, veterans account for 20% of suicides. I seethe when I think of all those so anxious to get us involved in deadly conflicts but then they turn their backs on those who come home wounded in body and soul. Moral injury is distinct from PTSD, or perhaps a part of it. Psychological wounds and scars have a spiritual and ethical component. Traumatic events cause a moral crisis for many of us. Listen to words on the moral conscience given by The Second Vatican Council:“In the depth of conscience, we detect a law which we does not impose upon ourselves.... Always summoning us to love good and avoid evil the voice of conscience can, when necessary, speak to the heart more specifically: do this, shun that. For we have in the heart a law written by God. ..Conscience is the most secret core and sanctuary of man. There one is alone with God, whose voice echoes in the depths.” (gender neutral language substituted)
The death one encounters in warfare can be a profound shock to one’s sense of moral right and wrong. it can induce a severe sense of shame and guilt over what was done or what one fialed to do.It seems to harm one’s ability to integrate the identity one had before the war and as a result of being in war.When one returns home and starts to wonder about the rationale for the war and its cp onsequences, a deep sens of feeling that it was in vain, all for nothing, can push a veteran into the doldrums.The person dealing with moral injury may feel a need ot be punished. So, they punish themselves and place themselves in situations to be punished. Some feel guilty about ever enjoying themselves, so they sabotage the events. Often, veterans suffer in a shroud of distance and silence.
Moral wounds can be addressed. Some may be healed. In other words, military chaplaincy is important past the battlefield. Often, it is rarely a quick lightning bolt but a process, like so many things in life.Rita Nakashima Brock speaks of soul repair as a counter to moral injury. If veterans can find a new mission to pour their energies, that can help. If they feel they are making amends for wrongs done, so much the better.
Shame and guilt can be addressed in counselling. Guilt emerges from transgressing a rule, a boundary, but shame is deeper seated, as it threatens the very sense of self as a person worthy of respect. Religious ritual and teachings can be an enormous aid here. Rituals can be a safe place to address or to enact the repair of a broken spirit, when words alone cannot suffice. If any notion is central in the Christian world, it is forgiveness. To be extended a sense of forgiveness for oneself can be a salutary experience for some suffering veterans.
Our tossing around the word hero does not make veterans absolved of their moral qualms. The church can be and shall become a space to encounter the Forgiving God, the Healing One.
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