Outskirts Press, INC.

Moral Injury: The View from the Cross

Violence in combat assaults the psyche, confuses the ethics and tests the soul. The combat wounds that our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines can suffer are not only physical but often spiritual; wounds to the soul and conscience from perceived violations of moral norms. Over time moral injury can devastate the warrior’s mental health like a slow, corrosive, insidious poison. Warriors deal with eternity. Their actions save the life of their buddy here and end the life of the enemy there but both are human beings. Healing and cleansing must occur after combat. How will the combat warrior cope in his/her own conscience after violence suffered and violence inflicted? Consciences come in all shapes and sizes normed by voices of authority within the church and state. Innumerable consciences have been normed and nurtured by godly parents, teachers and ministers of the Gospel. Consciences are not identical nor can any individual conscience be treated with a single universal solution. Read on to discover:

The mission of God to the military and the crucial difference between self-forgiveness and God’s forgiveness.

Verbatim interviews from one police officer and eight combat veterans, six of whom received the purple heart for wounds sustained in battle.

The ancient rites the church had established for bloody warriors returning from combat and the rite of healing the church can offer to our veterans.

Is the conscience the warrior’s friend or foe? My answer to this ancient dilemma shines through the cross of Christ as God’s exclusive lens and mission to the troubled conscience of any warrior.