RT Article
T1 War, Masculinity, and the Ambiguity of Care
JF Pastoral psychology
VO 70
IS 1
SP 1
OP 15
A1 Tietje, Adam D.
LA English
YR 2021
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1748097261
AB This paper makes the case that to the extent that churches and military chaplains leave the command-obedience relationship of soldiers and the state unchallenged they are complicit in structures that put their care to potentially abusive ends. The paper provides an analysis of the civil-military distinction, in light of which soldiers are subject to patriarchal dynamics by the state. Thomas Aquinas’s moral psychology is used to argue that the command-obedience relationship of soldiers and the state is deeply problematic. Moral injury phenomena are perhaps best understood in this context. Churches and chaplains are unwittingly caught up in the command-obedience dynamic and potentially reinforce its abuses. This paper presses pastoral caregivers to acknowledge their fraught position and provide a prophetic witness that prioritizes obedience to God.
K1 Masculinity
K1 Military chaplains
K1 Moral Injury
K1 Pastoral Care
K1 Political pastoral theology
DO 10.1007/s11089-020-00932-3