http://www.truth-out.org/can-jesus-cure-shell-shock61984
In the dark ages there were very few medicines and even less knowledge of the human body and the human mind. Currently, army psychologists are giving soldiers suffering from PTSD and stress disorders a $5.00 bible and telling them the cure is in reading it. This "cure" is not unlike something a priest might have done a thousand years ago. There is no scientific or natural evidence that god can or is healing the minds and bodies of these soldiers of accumulated stress. This application of non-medicine puts the burden of healing and wellness back on the ill soldier. This does three things for the military: 1. It lowers their costs and responsibility. What could be easier and cheaper than saying here is a $5.00 bible and now it is up to you to read it until you are well. The burden of recovery is on the ill soldier and an invisible and silent and absent deity that the soldier is told to tap into for his health resources. Surely anyone can recognize that this is medicine out of the dark ages. Just because the army does not want to recognize the problem and hire the psychologists and psychiatrists that could apply the best current science to the problem, they make PTSD a spiritual problem. This is cruel spiritual abuse. In the end, the blame for someone not getting better is his/her own fault. This is just wrong. 2. The dependency on the bible rather than reason and logic makes for a soldier who is separated from reason and logic and placed squarely in the realm of a 4,000 year old deity that was born out of a fighting people in the deserts in the middle east. Believing in a deity that cannot be verified and told to fight another group of people because they oppose our deity builds a religiously motivated military who is fighting for "their" god. This puts military action into the elusive category religious fanaticism based on superstition and mysticism, not logic. It is very easy to control a religious fanatic, unskilled and uneducated preachers do it every sunday all across america. 3. Applying the bible to a physical/mental problem grows a religious military that is easy to control and manipulate because free thought is eliminated and skepticism is taken out of the equation. A religious person is controlled with religious teachings and instruction. The military uses religion and religion uses the military.
Back to my original link and question? How effective is the reading of the bible when dealing with psychological trauma. Is their any scientific and verifiable evidence that these soldiers should be treated in this way? I personally tried to heal PTSD for 30 years with diligent bible reading, forgiveness, faithful church attendance and the application of the "biblical" self help writers. I got no relief from a prayer meeting, a self-help book or from "giving the problem to god". The problems associated with PTSD did not go away and I suffered 30 years. When I gave away every christian self-help book and went to a therapist and a psychiatrist I began to heal. I truly weep for our soldiers who are told to go home and read their bibles. We wonder why so many of them blow their brains out.
It takes money, time and resources and acknowledgement of the problem of PTSD, but the military wants to sweep it under the rug and apply elusive spirituality to the problem with a $5.00 bible fix. Our soldiers deserve better.
