Title | {“You} Have Shed Much Blood, and Waged Great Wars”: Killing, Bloodguilt, and Combat Stress |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2008 |
Authors | Bosworth, DA |
Journal Title | Journal of Religion, Disability & Health |
Volume | 12 |
Pages | 236–250 |
ISSN | 1522-8967 |
Abstract | {ABSTRACT} Are all warriors who have killed somehow polluted and prevented from an intimate relationship with God? This essay seeks to answer this question both affirmatively and negatively by correlating biblical literature, psychology, and the experience of veterans. Although killing in war defiles soldiers with bloodguilt and mars their relationship with the divine and with humans, ritual acts of purification in conjunction with appropriate psychological and pastoral care may cleanse this bloodguilt and restore relationships. |
URL | http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15228960802269364 |
DOI | 10.1080/15228960802269364 |
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