Killing From The Inside Out: Moral Injury And Just War

Is any war a just war? St. Augustine defined and defended the concept. According to him, the commandment of Jesus to turn the other cheek did not necessarily preclude killing and even torturing others in order to make the world a safer place so long as these acts were done with the right intentions and without hatred or revenge. Killing under these circumstances would not be a sin. Author Bob Meagher makes the case that just war theory, adopted by Christianity, and which promised the possibility of war without sin, is specious. Meagher’s range and depth of knowledge, his insights and analyses, are breath taking. He cites not only Augustine and Pope Pius XII, but also other religious leaders such as Bede, Aquinas, Erasmus, and Abelard. He cites military authorities such as Robert McNamara. And he cites Thucydides, Lactantius, Tertullian, Homer, Aristotle, Camus, Freud, and Obama—all with ease and authority.In Meagher’s coverage of the history of “just wars,” he discusses the Crusades, the Knights Templar, the “war popes” and concludes that just war theory is a dead letter. It’s irrelevant because it simply doesn’t describe what happens in war—any war. The warriors, who are told that they may kill without sin, when they do kill, suffer moral injury as grave as any physical injury.I was quite unsettled to learn that Pope Pius XII even went so far as to declare the pacifist who would not under any circumstances fight for his country an enemy of his country and of the human race.I had a phone conversation with Meagher to discuss, among other points, Pius’ position regarding pacifists. Meagher said that, given the church’s endorsement, this position was not so surprising. Meagher also pointed out that in the Eastern Orthodox tradition, war is never justified; it’s always evil, but we may embrace the use of violence to protect the innocent. The Orthodox position is morally complicated; war at times can be judged as necessary but it is still evil. If a country engages in war, it is engaged in sin. As an example, viewing the atrocities Nazis did, taking out Hitler was necessary but still sinful but also forgivable. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Lutheran priest, would support the same position.In the book, Meagher does offer a suggestion for a path for the US to take to lead beyond war: he recommends that we do away with the all-volunteer army, which makes up less than 1% of our population. In our discussion, he pointed out that when we give up the citizen army, we go down the road that Hitler went down and noted that Eisenhower and Marshall said we lose the sense that we are all at stake in a war.Meagher claims that our most recent wars would never have been authorized if 99% of us had “skin in the game,” and were not reliant on proxies to do our fighting. I myself take issue with this suggestion. Past experience with a military draft has shown that, while some problems would be eased, there would be many other problems surfacing. Americans have always protested conscription, but I will highlight what happened relative to the Vietnam War. It was one of the most divisive issues of modern times. Draft resistors filed for conscientious objector status, claimed disability, went AWOL, or fled to Canada. By the 1970s there were more conscientious objectors than draftees, and there were enormous backlogs of induction-refusal legal cases. Protests of 100,000 people were not uncommon. In any event, I do not believe that Americans would be willing to go back to conscription.Back to my review of Meagher’s book, I highly recommend it. As can be surmised by the preceding write-up, the book addresses important issues and deals with them in a learned and powerful way. It is also highly readable.

With the invention of the atom bomb Einstein said, “The release of atomic power has changed everything except our way of thinking." Eisenhower, about the same time stated, "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed". "Killing from the Inside Out" makes the argument, presenting impressive research, that, from the beginning, war and killing should never have and can no longer be rationalized or justified as worthy by any soldier, religion or country. This author has enabled the reader to understand that nearly every soldier from every country, upon returning home from the killing fields of war, wants to say to someone, "I am sorry". Our response to the moral injury of all soldiers should be to forgive not only this soldier, but ourselves, for participating in, elevating and glorifying the killing of fellow human beings in war. For the world to move beyond this primitive idea of making war, to deal with our differences is, in the end, the message of this book. I write this on Easter, a day of hope. May this book move our world towards a more hopeful and loving direction, thank you so very much Robert Meagher.

i think this is probably the best and clearest book i have ever read (and i have read alot) on the trauma and stress of what happens to the men and women we send off them off to get brutalized, injured mentally and physically. the author very clearly and distinctly shows the price these brave soldiers pay and as one said of her husband, it is "killing him from the inside out." the author also very clearly helps those of us back home understand that we have missed the boat completely in understanding what has happened and being totally unprepared to understand that and have a comprehensive and valid program for their return to their country, what is left of their lives and their familys. it needs to be a classroom text at the military academies and u.s. congress.

Robert Meagher’s so well documented writing on War reads as a confession more than a thesis. The pronoun “I” sprouts frequently, making the text a personal intellectual and passionate and tough voyage. I recommend the Audible version, so well read, no mispronunciations and a varying tone that empathizes with the author, not least when sarcasm comes well. I will read it again and give it to some friends.

This book offers a wide-ranging view of the author's knowledge of ancient Greek and Roman philosophers and literature, but it offers virtually no help to those of us who suffer from moral injury from war. His answer: go back to the draft, and universal national service for all young Americans. Very disappointing.

If you know a combat veteran you should read this book. The author convincingly argues that killing in combat -- regardless of its justification -- ultimately results in a significant price being paid by the survivor. While the thoughts presented in this book are not currently popular in the America, I suspect they will be more so as time passes.

"Must read" that's all that needs to be said. You will never think of Paul, Augustine, Aquinas, and "Just War" the same. Address the moral injury of war and PTSD issues. In these times of conflict and use of immoral force in information revolution "must read".. The approach is documented and footnoted and very very important book... In the Bernays fashion "Must read"

This book won’t resonate with Iraq/Afghanistan veterans. The author makes a historically compelling argument that war, any war is wrong. It isn’t very captivating Or readable but has some solid research done to support it. He fails to address that most modern veterans that kill them selves are not indeed combat veterans and don’t possess moral injury

I bought this book looking to learn more about moral injury in war. The introduction was excellent and laid the groundwork to develop ideas around what happens when people's deepest beliefs about justice and humanity are challenged on the battlefield.Then the book then begins to develop historical context beginning with the ancient Greeks, maintaining the momentum begun in the introduction, however the author sidesteps into developing an analogy between sex and war, before embarking on a long and detailed history of the development of the christian theory of just war which takes up most of the book. The initial energy is quickly lost unless the reader is interested in the minutiae of how christianity moved from pacifism to supporting total war.For those interested in a purely christian orientated and highly detailed theological discussion of war (and its links to sex) the book is possibly excellent, however I do not have the theological knowledge to make that call. For those looking for a text about Moral Injury the book feels light, which is unfortunate as it begins well but left me wanting the author to develop the potentially powerful and useful insights glimpsed in his introduction.I don't think I'm in its target demographic of concerned Christian Americans looking for theological ammunition. If I was, I might give it 5 stars, but personally it's one of the rare books I will quickly donate to the secondhand bookshop in the hope it finds a more biblically knowledgable owner.