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I'm Krista Tippett. Today, the soul of war.

With a rock veteran and Chaplain Major John Morris,

we explore how war challenges the human spirit and the core tenets of a life of faith.

The war on terror, he says, presents its own spiritual challenges.

He is working to support the reintegration of national guard and reserve personnel

who are being mobilized for active duty at record levels in Afghanistan and Iraq.

We take a citizen off the street of Minneapolis and we turn them into a warrior,

a person who upon demand without a split second hesitation with point of

weapon, another human being and shoot them until they don't get up again.

Take six months to get a person ready to do that. Then we put them in combat for 12 months.

Then in 300 hours, we can have them from their last mission back on the street

in a civilian close. There's a problem there. This is speaking of faith.

Stay with us. I'm Krista Tippett. In recent decades, we have acquired the

language of post-traumatic stress to treat veterans after combat.

My guest this hour says that we must also find new language, rituals, and practices as a society

to support all veterans as they rejoin their lives, their families, and their communities.

Chaplain Major John Morris speaks with honesty and passion from his own experience in Iraq

and his work now with returning soldiers and guardsmen and women.

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