{"id":26292,"date":"2016-03-04T11:32:37","date_gmt":"2016-03-04T16:32:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/?p=26292"},"modified":"2016-03-17T12:25:28","modified_gmt":"2016-03-17T16:25:28","slug":"june-26-2015-healing-moral-wounds-of-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2016\/03\/04\/june-26-2015-healing-moral-wounds-of-war\/26292\/","title":{"rendered":" Healing Moral Wounds of War"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In her book <em>Afterwar: Healing the Moral Wounds of Our Soldiers<\/em>, Georgetown University philosophy professor Nancy Sherman argues that many of the 2.6 million U.S. service members returning from our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq suffer from complex moral injuries that are more than post-traumatic stress and that have to do with feelings of guilt, anger, and \u201cthe shame of falling short of your lofty military ideals.\u201d Citizens have \u201ca sacred obligation,&#8221; says Sherman, to morally engage with those who have fought in our name and who feel moral responsibility for traumatic incidents they experienced. Managing editor Kim Lawton interviews Sherman about the moral aftermath of war and visits a former Marine and his wife to talk about the healing that comes through listening, trust, hope, and moral understanding.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"line-height: 1em\">Read an excerpt from <em>Afterwar: Healing the Moral Wounds of Our Soldiers<\/em> by Nancy Sherman (Oxford University Press, 2015):<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-26294\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2015\/06\/afterwar-bookexcerpt-cover.jpg\" alt=\"afterwar-bookexcerpt-cover\" width=\"280\" height=\"410\" \/><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Many who return from war are dogged by profound disappointment in themselves and the sense that they have fallen short of ideals of what it is to be a good solider. Sometimes the disappointment stems not from wrongdoing or evil, but from an over-idealized sense of good soldiering, or an intolerance for good and bad luck in war. In a related way, some may feel (subjective) guilt that doesn\u2019t track culpability or wrongdoing. In some of these cases, there may be causal but not moral responsibility at work, such as when an individual is the proximate cause of a nonculpable accident. In other cases, merely surviving when a buddy doesn\u2019t, without any sense of being the agent or cause of that buddy\u2019s death, unleashes deep guilt and despondency.<\/p>\n<p>Hope in the face of evil is another matter, either when one is the victim of evil or when its perpetrator. There is no shortage of evil in going to war and killing and maiming for a cause that may not be just or at least is imprudent, as many in the public increasingly regard the wars in Afghanistan, and\u2014especially\u2014Iraq. \u2026This may speak to all sorts of issues, including an enlisted military and not a drafted one, a conservative-leaning military, a military that swelled in the wake of a patriotic surge after 9\/11, or wars that have wound down only to be reignited. I suspect there will be far deeper disillusionment as the experiences of investing $2 trillion and too many lives in Iraq and Afghanistan leave little lasting impact in those regions.<\/p>\n<p>The experience of some of the Marine veterans of the bloody Fallujah invasion of the Anbar region of Iraq in November 2004 may be indicative here. The battle that wrested the insurgent-held city was fierce and costly, and for the Corps a defining moment of the twelve years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, with nearly 100 Marines killed and hundreds wounded. When the city fell back to insurgent Sunni forces with Al Qaeda links in January 2014, shock waves of disbelief ran viral through the close-knit Marine community who fought in that battle. Wirth the fall came a lost sense of the mission and what they cook themselves to accomplish. As Kael Weston, a State Department political adviser who worked closely with Marines in Fallujah and later Afghanistan put it, \u201cThis is just the beginning of the reckoning and accounting.\u201d The reckoning will come, and with it the shifting grounds of hope or despair. This is a future story to be told for these veterans and for many others who have served in these wars.<\/p>\n<p>Early on in the philosophical record, Aristotle invokes that image of a friend as \u201canother self,\u201d a \u201cmirror,\u201d not for narcissistic reflection, he insists, but for self-knowledge \u201cwhen we wish to know our own characters\u2026and direct study of ourselves\u201d is near impossible. The background assumption in Aristotle\u2019s claims is that we are not empty vessels for others\u2019 aspirations, but we are aspirants who can\u2019t do without others\u2019 support, trust, and compassionate critique in articulating how to live well and then trying to live that life.<\/p>\n<p>For a returning veteran, recognizing that another has invested hope in you can be profoundly transformative. It can nourish hope in oneself and sustain hope for projects that rekindle a sense of meaning and purpose after war. It is an important moment in healing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;It\u2019s morally urgent just as we send citizen soldiers to war that we bring citizen soldiers home,&#8221; says Georgetown University philosophy professor Nancy Sherman. Despite the moral hurt and guilt combatants feel, civilian society can help them recover \u201ca sense of goodness about yourself, to empathize with the good part of you.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2016\/03\/04\/june-26-2015-healing-moral-wounds-of-war\/26292\/\" class=\"more\">More <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":26329,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6569],"tags":[1864,7905,6772,6453,991],"class_list":["post-26292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-videocast","tag-afghanistan","tag-nancy-sherman","tag-post-traumatic-stress-disorder","tag-veterans","tag-war","topics-faith-and-spirituality","topics-health-and-medicine","topics-war-and-peace"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Healing Moral Wounds of War | June 25, 2015 | Religion &amp; Ethics NewsWeekly<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Combat veterans are coming home from our recent wars with deep moral injuries as well as physical wounds.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2016\/03\/04\/june-26-2015-healing-moral-wounds-of-war\/26292\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Healing Moral Wounds of War | June 25, 2015 | Religion &amp; Ethics NewsWeekly\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Combat veterans are coming home from our recent wars with deep moral injuries as well as physical wounds.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2016\/03\/04\/june-26-2015-healing-moral-wounds-of-war\/26292\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion &amp; Ethics NewsWeekly\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PBS.ReligionEthics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-04T16:32:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-03-17T16:25:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2015\/06\/feat-afterwar-moral-wounds-800-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fred Yi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ReligionEthics\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ReligionEthics\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Fred Yi\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/04\\\/june-26-2015-healing-moral-wounds-of-war\\\/26292\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/04\\\/june-26-2015-healing-moral-wounds-of-war\\\/26292\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Fred Yi\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0576fe5f06986bc0418635994a2bcd47\"},\"headline\":\"Healing Moral Wounds of War\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-04T16:32:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-03-17T16:25:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/04\\\/june-26-2015-healing-moral-wounds-of-war\\\/26292\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":722,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/04\\\/june-26-2015-healing-moral-wounds-of-war\\\/26292\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/files\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/feat-afterwar-moral-wounds-800-2.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Afghanistan\",\"Nancy Sherman\",\"post-traumatic stress disorder\",\"veterans\",\"War\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Videocast\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/04\\\/june-26-2015-healing-moral-wounds-of-war\\\/26292\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/04\\\/june-26-2015-healing-moral-wounds-of-war\\\/26292\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/04\\\/june-26-2015-healing-moral-wounds-of-war\\\/26292\\\/\",\"name\":\"Healing Moral Wounds of War | June 25, 2015 | Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/04\\\/june-26-2015-healing-moral-wounds-of-war\\\/26292\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/04\\\/june-26-2015-healing-moral-wounds-of-war\\\/26292\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/files\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/feat-afterwar-moral-wounds-800-2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-04T16:32:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-03-17T16:25:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0576fe5f06986bc0418635994a2bcd47\"},\"description\":\"Combat veterans are coming home from our recent wars with deep moral injuries as well as physical wounds.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/04\\\/june-26-2015-healing-moral-wounds-of-war\\\/26292\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/04\\\/june-26-2015-healing-moral-wounds-of-war\\\/26292\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/files\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/feat-afterwar-moral-wounds-800-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/files\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/feat-afterwar-moral-wounds-800-2.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":450},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/\",\"name\":\"Religion &amp; Ethics NewsWeekly\",\"description\":\"An examination of religion&#039;s role and the ethical dimensions behind top news headlines.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/search-results\\\/?q={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0576fe5f06986bc0418635994a2bcd47\",\"name\":\"Fred Yi\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/religionandethics\\\/author\\\/yif\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Healing Moral Wounds of War | June 25, 2015 | Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly","description":"Combat veterans are coming home from our recent wars with deep moral injuries as well as physical wounds.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2016\/03\/04\/june-26-2015-healing-moral-wounds-of-war\/26292\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Healing Moral Wounds of War | June 25, 2015 | Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly","og_description":"Combat veterans are coming home from our recent wars with deep moral injuries as well as physical wounds.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2016\/03\/04\/june-26-2015-healing-moral-wounds-of-war\/26292\/","og_site_name":"Religion &amp; Ethics NewsWeekly","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PBS.ReligionEthics\/","article_published_time":"2016-03-04T16:32:37+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-03-17T16:25:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":450,"url":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2015\/06\/feat-afterwar-moral-wounds-800-2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Fred Yi","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ReligionEthics","twitter_site":"@ReligionEthics","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Fred Yi","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2016\/03\/04\/june-26-2015-healing-moral-wounds-of-war\/26292\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2016\/03\/04\/june-26-2015-healing-moral-wounds-of-war\/26292\/"},"author":{"name":"Fred Yi","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/#\/schema\/person\/0576fe5f06986bc0418635994a2bcd47"},"headline":"Healing Moral Wounds of War","datePublished":"2016-03-04T16:32:37+00:00","dateModified":"2016-03-17T16:25:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2016\/03\/04\/june-26-2015-healing-moral-wounds-of-war\/26292\/"},"wordCount":722,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2016\/03\/04\/june-26-2015-healing-moral-wounds-of-war\/26292\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2015\/06\/feat-afterwar-moral-wounds-800-2.jpg","keywords":["Afghanistan","Nancy Sherman","post-traumatic stress disorder","veterans","War"],"articleSection":["Videocast"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2016\/03\/04\/june-26-2015-healing-moral-wounds-of-war\/26292\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2016\/03\/04\/june-26-2015-healing-moral-wounds-of-war\/26292\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2016\/03\/04\/june-26-2015-healing-moral-wounds-of-war\/26292\/","name":"Healing Moral Wounds of War | June 25, 2015 | Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2016\/03\/04\/june-26-2015-healing-moral-wounds-of-war\/26292\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2016\/03\/04\/june-26-2015-healing-moral-wounds-of-war\/26292\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2015\/06\/feat-afterwar-moral-wounds-800-2.jpg","datePublished":"2016-03-04T16:32:37+00:00","dateModified":"2016-03-17T16:25:28+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/#\/schema\/person\/0576fe5f06986bc0418635994a2bcd47"},"description":"Combat veterans are coming home from our recent wars with deep moral injuries as well as physical wounds.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2016\/03\/04\/june-26-2015-healing-moral-wounds-of-war\/26292\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2016\/03\/04\/june-26-2015-healing-moral-wounds-of-war\/26292\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2015\/06\/feat-afterwar-moral-wounds-800-2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2015\/06\/feat-afterwar-moral-wounds-800-2.jpg","width":800,"height":450},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/","name":"Religion &amp; Ethics NewsWeekly","description":"An examination of religion&#039;s role and the ethical dimensions behind top news headlines.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/search-results\/?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/#\/schema\/person\/0576fe5f06986bc0418635994a2bcd47","name":"Fred Yi","url":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/author\/yif\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/72"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26292"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26292\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29480,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26292\/revisions\/29480"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}