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What is “moral pain”?

--“bad conscience”

--“Experiencing the pain and suffering of the world” (i.e., through war and its devastation)

--Experiencing the pain and suffering of the world and finding oneself unable to meaningfully intervene.

(Peter Marin 1981)

Most U.S. Americans remain “asleep” with respect to “sharing our part of the burden”/ taking responsibility for MI.

To what extent is this due to widespread blindness, avoidance and denial of the structural and cultural violence of war-culture?
Will a deeper understanding of the dynamics of violence in MI better assist pathways of just healing, repair and recompense?

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How understandings of MI are expanding,

taking in an ever-wider social landscape

The “two prongs” of moral Injury

a) betrayal of one’s own moral compass

b) being betrayed/transgressed by external sources and people

(authorities)� (Litz et al 2009)

2. Moral injury arises through the collision between a person’s reflective conscience, and the brutally harsh realities of war and killing. �(Antal and Yeomans 2019)

3) Moral injury is linked to the unjust and disproportionate distribution of

moral pain. �(Antal and Yeomans 2019)

4) Moral Injury is despair of myself, and of the world.

(Yandell 2020)

5) Moral injury is a likely consequence of participation in the moral distortion of the world that is created by war.�(Denton-Borhaug 2021)

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Acknowledging the Social and Cultural Preconditions of MI��“prosecuting ugly situations [with armed force] . . . Putting people at risk for MI . . . It’s our duty to do what we can to prevent that . . . “��Digging into the Morality of MI��“How did we lose track of the moral aspects of trauma?”��

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U.S. War-culture

“the ethos, institutions and practices of war that interpenetrate with vast and diverse civilian sites of life and culture”

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Why do U.S. citizens seem to be mostly unaware and/or unconcerned regarding their own war-culture? What prevents deeper awareness of the costs of war imposed on those we say we most esteem, our veterans and servicemembers?�

How can we better understand and analyze our own reality in the U.S.?

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The Triangle of Violence

Violence: “avoidable assaults to basic life needs, and more generally to life. . .”

Direct Violence – the “event”

of violence most visible to us

Cultural Violence – the deepest

Layer of violence, least visible,

found in many aspects of culture;

“pre-reflective”

--Religion, science, nationalism, race, gender and sexuality roles, --Black/white and

either/or patterns

of thinking; linear ways of

understanding conflict

Structural Violence – violence embedded in institutions and their practices;

exploitation, marginalization, oppression; violence justified/masked through structure

Johan Galtung, Peace by Peaceful Means: Peace and Conflict, Development and Civilization

International Peace Research Institute, Oslo, 1996

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The Triangle of Violence

in U.S. War-culture

Violence: “avoidable assaults to basic life needs, and more generally to life. . .”

Direct Violence – the “event”

of violence most visible to us.

--deaths/injuries of civilians,

combatants, ecological� destruction

--Moral Injury of� individuals

Cultural Violence

Colliding Masculinities
U.S. (civil) religious cultural formation and assumptions
Dominant understandings of U.S. nationalism

Structural Violence

The political economy of war;
The “empire of U.S. military bases”;
Interpenetration of militarism/militarization with supposed civilian sites

Galtung, Peace by Peaceful Means: Peace and Conflict, Development and Civilization

International Peace Research Institute, Oslo, 1996

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��

Today’s MIC: “a military-industrial-technological-entertainment-academic-scientific-media-intelligence-homeland security-surveillance-national security-corporate complex.”

(and we should add “religion” to this mix)

Nick Turse, The Complex: How the Military Invades our Everyday Lives. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2008, 16.

Structural Violence

In U.S. War-culture

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The Triangle of Violence

Direct Violence – the “event”

of violence most visible to us

Cultural Violence

Colliding Toxic Masculinities

i. “Sovereign Masculinity”

“Core Masculinity”
“Military Base Masculinity”

Structural Violence

Galtung, Peace by Peaceful Means: Peace and Conflict, Development and Civilization

International Peace Research Institute, Oslo, 1996

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Bonnie Mann and Sovereign Masculinity: �Gender Lessons from the War on Terror

The Hurt Locker, directed and produced by Kathryn Bigelow (2008, British Columbia: Voltage Pictures).

American Sniper, directed by Clint Eastwood (2015, Warner Brothers).

Becoming a man through achieving an “I can” body liberated from any potential risk of assault; one rises above the potential for shame through the performance of violence,

over and over again.

--emphasis on impermeability

“soldierly calm, ruthlessness and technical skill”

--not only for the individual, but a national process –

“Shock and Awe”

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Kathleen Barry and “Core Masculinity”

People are shaped to have “expendable lives” – identified by their male gender, socialized and trained to know themselves as those who can be sacrificed in war.

--not rooted in biology but is “needed by states and movements that require men’s combat.” The “devaluation of their lives is shown to them as manly, heroic sacrifice.”

Thomas Denton-Borhaug, 2021

Hershel Woody Williams Medal of Honor Foundation, http://hwwmohf.org/monument-projects.html 2021.

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Colliding Tropes of Masculinity�Do these conflicting messages exacerbate moral injury?

Army Core Values

Loyalty, duty, respect, personal courage, honor, integrity and selfless service are the seven core values and describes what an Army soldier is all about.�
LOYALTY describes bearing true faith and allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, the Army, your unit and other soldiers. �
DUTY is explained as always fulfilling your obligations. �
Treating people as they should be treated is how RESPECT is defined the Soldier's Code. �
A soldier will demonstrate SELFLESS SERVICE by putting the welfare of the nation, the Army and subordinates before your own. �
Living up to Army values entails HONOR. �
A soldier shows INTEGRITY by doing what is right - legally and morally. �
PERSONAL COURAGE under Army values means facing fear, danger or adversity.

Basic Training Cadence

I went to church

Where all the people pray

I took out my Claymore

And I blew them all away

Singing left right, left right, left right kill

Left right, left right, you know I will.

--Eric Fair, Consequence 2017

�

Sovereign Masculinity

Core Masculinity

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Measuring dehumanization:

“what is grievable?”

Servicemembers are trained in dehumanization, but MI reveals sharp awareness of the other’s human face.
How does one grieve the loss of those killed who have been labeled “the enemy”?
Is widespread national avoidance of the violence, injury and death of post 9/11 wars a “precondition” of MI?

Judith Butler, Frames of War, 2016

To what extent is military training in dehumanization a “precondition” of Moral Injury?

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The Triangle of Violence

Direct Violence – the “event”

of violence most visible to us

Cultural Violence

a) Colliding Toxic Masculinities

i. “Sovereign Masculinity”� ii. “Core Masculinity”

iii. “Military Base Masculinity”

b) U.S. (civil) religious cultural � formation and assumptions

c) Dominant understandings of U.S.� nationalism

Structural Violence

Galtung, Peace by Peaceful Means: Peace and Conflict, Development and Civilization

International Peace Research Institute, Oslo, 1996

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(Civil) Religious Patterns of Cultural violence� in U.S. War-culture

We might ask, how did a nonviolent messiah become the template for interpreting the violence of war in the life of servicemembers?

Sacralization renders violence and religion “off the table” for critical thinking and analysis, and promotes concealment of violence.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1025319469/greater-love-soldier-memorial-angel

“U.S. War-culture Bible”

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“Good Morning. This weekend, families across America are coming together to celebrate Easter . . . during this special and holy time of year, millions of Americans pause to remember a sacrifice that transcended the grave and redeemed the world . . . On Easter we hold in our hearts those who will be spending this holiday far from home – our troops . . . I deeply appreciate the sacrifice that they and their families are making . . . On Easter, we especially remember those who have given their lives for the cause of freedom. These brave individuals have lived out the words of the Gospel, “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends . . .”

George W. Bush, “President Bush’s Radio Address, Easter 2008,” The White House: President George W. Bush, May 18, 2016.

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(Civil) Religious Patterns of Cultural Violence� in U.S. War-culture

Sacrificial rhetoric and logic predominate. This forecloses imagination regarding alternatives to militarization and war and easily is commodified by corporate/religious/political interests.

The Morning Call, Veterans Day 2021

Advertised through “Meet America” https://www.meetamerica.com.

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Conclusion: Honesty toward reality

“On Veterans Day, we are asked to ignore all the horrors of U.S. militarism for the “sake” of the veteran . . . [and]

justify the mission of the U.S. empire by setting aside a day that demands a certain degree of reverence for those who have carried out that mission.”

Rory Fanning, Afghanistan War Veteran

Religion and violence intertwine to fuel U.S. war-culture, and simultaneously, making war “sacred” conceals its death-dealing consequences from national consciousness.

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Questions

How does the intermixing of structural and cultural violence (i.e., the language of “the necessary sacrifices of war” and “the ultimate sacrifice” of soldiers’ injuries and death) exacerbate the development of MI and increase suffering and isolation?
Can engaged scholarship assist citizens and religious communities to break through the concealing systems and practices of structural and cultural violence in U.S. war-culture?
How can citizens and people of faith better “bear our brunt of the burden” of this moral pain that currently is so unjustly and disproportionately distributed? (VA Chaplain Chris Antal)
Will a deeper understanding of the triangle of violence in MI better assist people living with MI to find pathways of just healing, repair and recompense?

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References

Chris Antal, “Creating Welcoming Faith Communities for Veterans,” Clergy Training at Moravian University, March 21, 2019

Antal, Chris J. and Peter D. Yeomans. “Transforming Veteran Identity Through Community Engagement: a chaplain-psychologist Collaboration to Address Moral Injury,” Journal of Humanistic Psychology (April 29, 2019), 1-26.

Bacevich, Andrew. America’s War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History. New York: Random House: 2016.

Baldour, Lolita and Robert Burns, “Military Suicides Rise 15% as Senior Leaders Call for Action,” Associated Press, Sept. 21, 2021, https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-army-lloyd-austin-aa9971be75f6a78d9b6530d6ff3d6d72.

Barry, Kathleen. Unmaking War, Remaking Men. Santa Rosa: Phoenix Rising Press, 2011.

Bush, George W. “President Bush’s Radio Address, Easter 2008,” The White House: President George W. Bush, May 18, 2016.

Butler, Judith. Frames of War. Verso, 2016.

Denton-Borhaug, Kelly. And Then Your Soul Is Gone: Moral Injury and U.S. War-culture. Equinox, 2021.

Denton-Borhaug, Kelly. U.S. War-culture, Sacrifice and Salvation, New York: Routledge, 2014. 1^st Edition.

Fair, Eric. Consequence. Picador, 2017.

Fanning, Rory, “As a Veteran, I refuse to Celebrate War,” Truthout, Nov. 11, 2019. https://truthout.org/articles/as-a-veteran-i-refuse-to-celebrate-war/.

Shannon E. French and Anthony I. Jack, “Connecting Neuroethics and Military Moral Injury to Help Prevent Moral Injury,” War and Moral Injury: A Reader, Ed. Robert E. Meagher and Douglas A. Pryer, Cascade Books, 2018, 270-284.

Litz, Brett T., Nathan, Stein, Eileen Delaney, Leslie Lebowitz, William P. Nash, Caroline Silva, Shira Maguen, “Moral injury and moral repair in war veterans: A preliminary model and intervention strategy,” Clinical Psychology Review 29 (2009): 695-706.

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Mann, Bonnie. Sovereign Masculinity: Gender Lessons from The War on Terror. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.

Marin, Peter. “Living in Moral Pain,” Psychology Today, 1981.

Martin, Kelly and David Vine, “Mapping the Growth of Bases Worldwide.” Investigative Reporting Workshop. August 25, 2015. American University School of Communication. Web.

Meagher, Robert E. Killing from the Inside Out: Just war and Moral Injury. Eugene OR: Cascade Books, 2014.

Meagher, Robert E. and Douglas A. Pryer. War and Moral Injury: A Reader. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2018.

“Meet America” https://www.meetamerica.com.

Nash, William. "Commentary on the Special Issue on Moral Injury: Unpacking Two Models of Understanding Moral Injury," Journal of Traumatic Stress. June 2019. Vol 32 Issue 3 p465-470.

Nash, William P. “Dr. William Nash Discusses Moral Injury Beyond the Military Context," Shay Moral Injury Center, https://www.voa.org/moral-injury-center/videos/dr-william-nash-discusses-moral-injury-beyond-the-military-context

Swanson, David. “U.S. Plans to Saturate Globe with Weapons,” David Swanson: Let’s Try Democracy. July 11, 2016. Web.

Turse, Nick. The Complex: How the Military Invades our Everyday Lives. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2008.

“World Military Budgets,” National Priorities Project. https://NationalPriorities.org. Web.

Overseas Base Coalition, https://www.overseasbases.net/.