As believers, we do not have to wonder in the dark or "see through a glass darkly" when it comes to things like PTSD caused by combat stress. God has given to us a wonderful blueprint to understand our humanity and use God's powerful Holy Spirit for healing. It's quite simple, but yet powerful and profound. The only prerequisite is for us to believe and do it God's way, rather than think we can solve our own problems. So with that introduction, feel free to read the first two parts and then finish with the third part to understand this provocative part of how Christian Chaplains use God's Word to help our Soldiers', Sailors', Marines and Airmen. God bless.
A NEW OLD WAY- Part three of three
By Chaplain Tim Libertay
How Moral Injury Works and Solutions
In this new paradigm of thinking,
we have postulated a new anthropology of how we are wired as people. Furthermore, a new causation for the
epidemiology of PTSD of moral injury is essential to understand the road to
recovery for those who suffer from the said affliction. Sin is the culprit and theology as found in
the Scriptures explains it succinctly.
For the purposes of this study, there are two different types of sin
which goes to the heart of why people suffer from PTSD. There is sin which someone else does which
affects an individual and sin which a person commits which tears them apart
inside due to guilt.
The Effects of
Two Different Types of Sin
The first type of sin is the one
where an individual is the recipient of someone else’s sin. Physical and emotional abuse takes this
form. Whether it is an abused child or
spouse, many studies have already been done to demonstrate this effect on
people. When it deals with PTSD however,
it takes a form which causes the individual to withdraw and become
reclusive. Excessive loneliness is a
result. The individual loses hope and
lives in despair and of course it eventually takes a toll on the individual’s
physical health. The Psalmist describes
it when He is a victim of other’s sin towards Him: “Do not take my soul away
along with sinners or my life with men of bloodshed. In whose hands is a wicked
scheme and whose right hand are full of bribes.” (Ps 26:9-10). In this Psalm, the writer expresses a request
to avoid evil.
Furthermore, the feeling of oppression from
others who have done wicked things and still oppress a person has its effects
on one’s sanity and health: “The cords of death encompassed me, and the
torrents of ungodliness terrified me.
The cords of Sheol (hell) surrounded me; the snares of death confronted
me” (Ps 18:4-5).
In the examples, the Psalmist
doesn’t understand how he could be innocent, but
still suffer from
the hatred of others. In the context of
the Psalmist, he has incurred the wrath of King Saul because of petty
jealousy. David is totally innocent and
cannot find a rational explanation for why the King wants to kill him. He has to flee for his life and in this moral
question is seeking answers. It affects
his understanding of what he knows as right and wrong and just doesn’t make any
sense to him. He feels alone, dejected
and has no answers. He is a victim of
someone else’s sin and hatred.
With this Biblical illustration comes a true
story of someone I counseled in the past who was diagnosed with PTSD. I hesitate to use this story because it
incriminates our own military and fighting forces, but in times of war, nothing
is perfect. I was sworn to confidentiality,
so for the sake of this illustration I will use it. I also understood that this is/was someone’s
perception of reality, so it could be distorted as to the facts. However, in this case, even perception was
reality because the individual demonstrated the same effects of what they
experienced as the Psalmist did.
This Sailor was assigned to a unit as
support. There was a convoy that went
into a village and something happened where there was an indication of hostile
intent. A fire fight ensued and the
whole village was leveled: Men, women
and even children. As the Sailor told me
the story, it was still vivid and real and evoked a terrible memory and brought
tears. As I asked questions one
statement stood out: “I joined the military to do good things, not to be a part
which kills people.” This was definitely
a case for Moral Injury if there ever was one.
It concerns one’s view of evil.
The solution to this will be developed
in the next chapter. What is interesting
is how the person got better and learned to deal with this event as a result of
my counsel in reference to the moral question.
For now however, a simple summary is needed to bring out the main point
of this illustration. Sin caused by
others has the potential to effect and cause moral injury to an individual’s
peace of mind. It is something certainly
one cannot prove empirically, but has demonstrative effects on the well-being
of a person who experiences this type of event.
This is one type of sin which I will call debilitating sin because sin
caused by others can and does affect all.
It is the type that can induce guilt, (even though it doesn’t have to),
but its horrific memories evoke a helplessness which
cannot be
answered in one’s own world view or experiences. In reality it’s a different side of the same
coin, but the next type of sin has a more devastating effect on a person’s
overall well-being.
To remind the reader, if one accepts the
premise that we are all created in the image of God, we have an intrinsic sense
of what is right and wrong. We are all
“hard-wired” sort of speak to know and understand morality. Morality has traditionally been defined in
terms of Theological constructs. In
other words, what is right and wrong for all people is inherent within us
because God has put it there. There are
certain spiritual laws and to break them brings certain negative
consequences.
For instance, we understand what love is
because God is love (1 John 4:8). We
know what righteous (a state of being right) judgment is because God is a
Righteous Judge (John 7:24). Judgment is
something we know exist and seek after it.
These are of course moral and hence, non-empirical truths. However, we know these truths to be
self-evident. These are truths which
cannot be confirmed empirically, but deep down we know them to be true
nonetheless. They exist and to deny they
do not exist is to deny obvious truth.
It is in this realm that the key towards
“moral injury” dwell. A working
knowledge of theology is essential at this point because without it, one is
totally in the dark. This is where
modern education has fallen because up to a generation ago, all education
included it. Even if one was not a
believer in it, at least those of the past had a working knowledge of it. Scientists
understood it as being part of the greater whole. Even a deist like Thomas Jefferson when he
started the University of Virginia felt it important to include the Scriptures
in his introduction of a non-religious curriculum.
In the previous study of sin, one cannot
answer the question of evil and all of the terrible things it wreaks on a
society or individuals. In moral guilt,
one feels guilt, shame and other emotions due towards an action one has
committed or not committed. The
mechanism behind feelings in our soul and spirit are due towards our falling
short of what God desires, expects and wants from us. It is this falling short of God’s standards which an
individual uses to come to God through prayer or personal intercession. If something is wrong, there is an inherent
sense of guilt and shame. As one has
this sense, one can choose to ignore it or do something about it. If ignored, the person can either live with
this guilt or find other means to deal with the internal pain. This is not a good thing because often this
type of person seeks a cure which will only treat the symptoms, rather than get
to the cause of the problem. These are
the people who seek after drugs, alcohol or other means to mask the pain. This type of individual manifests destructive
behavior found in self-destructive behavior or relationships.
The other alternative to deal with moral
guilt is for a person to use their pain as a means to approach a benevolent God
and ask for forgiveness. This is the key
which unlocks the mystery of who we are as humans. If one accepts the premise that there is non-empirical
truth and we are indeed created by an Omnipotent and Omniscient God who has
offered total forgiveness for our moral guilt (sins) through Christ, then this
makes perfect sense.
Case
Studies
Tom (not real
name) was a sniper for the SEALs. We had
worked together intermittently for about a year when I noticed that Tom had lost
a lot of weight and he looked “tired.”
Furthermore, the word through the grapevine was Tom had just gotten
divorced from his wife. Understanding
the symptoms, but not knowing the details, I invited Tom to lunch on my
dime. Eventually we developed not a
close friendship, but a mutual acquaintance where we could talk openly about
almost anything. I had prayed for Tom
and I asked the Lord to give me some opportunity someday to help him.
That day finally came after six months. Tom came in and closed the door behind
him. It was here that Tom finally told
me he was on an Op (SEALs are known as “Operators” and “operators” do
“operations” or “ops”) and he took someone out.
He said he was good at what he did and he had excellent training to do
his mission. Even though he had done
many such ops, this one bothered him because when he looked through his scope
on what he had done, he could see the brain matter and blood splatter on the
wall behind the individual he had just killed.
From this experience he started to “self-medicate”
(drink) himself. From an increase in alcohol
abuse he said he started having nightmares, then daymares. He was listless and couldn’t sleep and he
said it cost him his marriage. Now it
was affecting his health and his life in the “Teams” (this is unit where other
operators work). He had gone to the Navy
Psychologists and after a year of drugs, therapy and treatments; he still couldn’t
get rid of the deep anguish he was going through. He was desperate and definitely
hurting.
This was an obvious case of moral guilt which
led to his head and heart telling him two different things. He did his job, but was not trained in how to
deal with moral issues. Understanding Ps
51 like I did, I then told him that he did what he was trained to do, but that
we have a soul and a spirit that communicates with a Holy and Perfect God. In this context, I was able to put his
experience in Theological terms of sin, guilt, forgiveness and redemption.
Of course the redemption was the forgiveness
of our sin through Jesus Christ’s payment on the Cross of Calvary. At this point, Tom asked for forgiveness and
I believe at this point there was also a spiritual conversion on his part. I could see it in his eyes that he understood
what had happened and there was a change in the air of our discussion. Tom told me he felt that a huge burden had
been lifted off his shoulders. The whole
discussion took about an hour and Tom left to go home.
The next day was a normal work day and I was
curious to see how Tom was doing. In the
early afternoon, he stopped by my office and made some amazing confessions to
me. With his deep and penetrating look,
he told me that he was able to sleep for the first time in about 2 years. Not only that, but his nightmares and
daymares were gone. In his words, “he
was a new man.”
The big question now is: did it stick? My answer is an unequivocal and emphatic
“yes.” Tom did grow in his Christian
faith in the few months we had together, but I lost track of him over the years
since. Last I talked to him; he wanted
to get back with his wife. This was a
complete success story of how a religious conversion makes a difference. Not all of them end up like this, but all who
have heard this explanation get better because they understand something that
cannot be codified or empirically understood.
This is why it is essential to understand this question in terms of a
theological answer towards guilt, Forgiveness and
redemption. This is shared in “Brian’s” (not real name)
story.
Case #2
Brian was also a SEALs sniper who had been
home from his last deployment about four months. He was drinking heavily and was having some
serious fights with his wife. He came in
on his own recognizance because he knew there was something wrong with him and
he didn’t want to “self-destruct.” He
had all of the same “symptoms” as Tom and many others like him who had gone
through the horrors of multiple deployments in Iraq.
As I always do, I explained to Brian how the
soul and spirit react towards doing something that goes against how God made
us. He was patient as I went through all
of the theology of morality and the non-empirical world of spiritual truth. From his body language however, I could tell
that he wasn’t interested in some of the “God talk.” When I told him that I wasn’t looking for a
conversion because that is a personal choice and decision between him and God,
I only wanted him to know and understand the mechanism of how his actions have
caused him inner pain. To which Brian
expressed how he couldn’t forgive himself for what he had done.
There was something there that resonated with
Brian. Even though he was not a
religious person, spiritual truth hit to the very core of who he was as a
person. It was a different reality for
him and he had never thought in terms or categories of “sin,” “redemption,” or
“forgiveness.” Again, it was like a
light bulb was turned on and it sparked something in him that made sense. He had wrestled with some spiritual truths of
good and evil and wasn’t able to put them in the proper perspective. Now he had the tools to deal with his moral
injury or moral guilt. He understood
what was happening to him and his inner anger.
Life once more made sense to him.
It was at this juncture I felt my time was
ending with Brian. However, after a week he called me again to deal with some
other questions he had in his life. He
did share that he was at peace once again and he wasn’t drinking anymore. We saw each other for a few more counseling
sessions. He had a lot of questions
which were spiritual in nature. I never knew if
Brian had made a conversion or not because I leave that up to the individual
and God, but I do know that our first encounter helped him to put life into a
proper balance.
These two examples are just two of many which
typify and illustrate how moral guilt or injury is a factor in taking someone’s
peace of mind. Since it is a question
which deals with our mind, emotions and will via the soul and spirit the best way
to resolve it falls in the theological realm.
Of course with some this is not even an option due to their
anti-religious bias, however, one cannot argue with success. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck
and looks like a duck, common sense tells one that it usually is a duck.
Conclusion
Much to the chagrin of atheists, scientists,
therapists and agnostics, our humanity rests on our soul and spirit and its
relationship to God. It is just simply a
fact of this life. Whether one believes
it or not will affect ones’ value system and world view and reveal bias’s which
normally are never discussed or brought up in an empirical world.
As a result, I challenge the scientific
communities to include theology in their training and discussions. Not every fact in this world can be verified
by the scientific method. To ignore this
truth is done at our own peril and will have severe limitations in the long
run.
The logical conclusion of all this is to have
a correct epistemology where all truth is incorporated and welcomed and has a
place of the table of solutions. We must
understand the dual nature of truth. One
leg can be understood in the physical world and be verified by our senses. The other leg is a reality where there is a
spiritual dimension. The two are not
mutually exclusive, but have an intersection which affects our lives.
The Judeo-Christian world-view is one in
which our laws, civilization and education is built off of certain axiomatic
truths. To ignore this aspect is to deny
truth. This is a mistake because answers
to help our fighting men and women are found in this paradigm. A true scientist will seek the truth of
their data based on their research. A
true theologian will explain all truth while understanding how all of the
disciplines come together through one unified whole, namely God. This is an axiomatic truism which has always
existed, we have merely chosen as a society and discipline to ignore. We can do better. WE must get beyond our bias’s and embrace
anything which will help our country’s most precious resource: our fighting men
and women in uniform.
It is the least we can do to help those brave
men and women who have given so much of their lives for the preservation of our
country.
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