Former Chaplain Writes of Moral Injury

President Obama recently announced that all the troops serving in Iraq will return home by the end of this year. He said that ensuring the success of a complete troop withdrawal in Iraq has been one of his top national security priorities.

“Today, I can say that our troops will definitely be home for the holidays,” he said.

What does this mean for churches and worship during this holiday season? asks Rev. Herman Keizer, Jr., retired director of the Christian Reformed Church’s Chaplaincy Ministries, in a thought-provoking, in-depth column available on the website of the Calvin Center of Christian Worship.

In that column, he says that the number of military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan that are suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or Traumatic Brain Injury is larger than the resources provided by the military can handle.

But then, he writes, there is another debilitating condition.

In December 2009, Veteran’s Administration (VA) mental health professionals described, for the first time, a wound of war they call “moral injury.”

They define it as the extreme distress brought about by "perpetrating, failing to prevent, or bearing witness to acts that transgress deeply held moral beliefs and expectations.”

Moral injury is an inner conflict based on a moral evaluation of having inflicted harm. Moral injury can also involve feeling betrayed by persons in authority.

Religious values and ethical precepts lie at the core of every person’s sense of humanity and of meaning.

The call to the churches this Christmas season is to be sensitive to military persons and their families.

“In our worship we should take very serious our moments of confession and hearing the Word of God that speaks forgiveness,” writes Keizer.