Soldiers back from Afghanistan

A few days have passed already since we finished our study conference. Protestant pastors from all over Germany and from Slovakia came together to discuss the challenges to be faced in dealing with posttraumatic stress syndrome. Of course the problem isn't just a medical or psychological one, but also a theological issue, and so we needed to take a look at our and our churches' concept of Just Peace and ask if we can accept military interventions as Ultima Ratio. Can the nations handle what is now agreed to be our Responsibility to Protect? Can there ever be criteria to make the right decision and thus ease our conscience? Or is it alright to accept that people are killed if this saves the lives of many others?
The talks we heard covered a wide field from the question of the origin of evil, peace ethics, our philosophical foundations and last not least we learned about troubled souls of the men and women who are sent to war and how do they deal with the violence and terror that threatens their lives at all times.