Moral Injury as Inherent Political Critique: The Prophetic Possibilities of a New Term

Moral injury is a term developed specifically to highlight the moral harm accrued by U.S. veterans during war, the salience of which seems to exceed the analytical range of terms such as “trauma.” Veterans can feel that they violated fundamental moral ideals, leaving some to feel they have lost the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Political theology : the journal of Christian Socialism 2017-04, Vol.18 (3), p.219-232
Main Author: Wiinikka-Lydon, Joseph
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ethics
Moral injury
Social conditions & trends
Veterans
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Summary:Moral injury is a term developed specifically to highlight the moral harm accrued by U.S. veterans during war, the salience of which seems to exceed the analytical range of terms such as “trauma.” Veterans can feel that they violated fundamental moral ideals, leaving some to feel they have lost the ability to be “good.” Moral injury as a term originally had an important political dimension, however, one that has been lost in a turn to a more clinical approach. I argue that the experience of moral injury can lend itself to potential, prophetic insights into the effects of one's culture on the wider world. Instead of seeing moral injury as a disorder in need of clinical treatment, it can be the basis of a religiously informed social ethic empowering veterans to engage the broader social conditions and policies that lead to war in the first place.
ISSN:1462-317X
1743-1719
DOI:10.1080/1462317X.2015.1104205