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.

本文认为，在某种程度上，教堂和军事牧师不顾士兵的指挥服从关系，而政府则不受挑战，它们构成了使他们的照料受到潜在虐待的结构的同谋。本文提供了对军民区别的分析，据此，哪些士兵受到国家的父权制影响。托马斯·阿奎纳斯的道德心理学被认为是士兵与国家之间的命令服从关系存在严重问题。在这种情况下，也许最好能理解道德伤害现象。教会和牧师不知不觉地陷入了服从命令的动态之中，并有可能加剧其滥用。本文敦促牧养者承认他们的烦恼状况，并提供先知的见证，使他们优先服从上帝。