After the Yellow Ribbon
Duke Divinity School
November 11, 2011 to November 12, 2011
Veterans today commit suicide at the highest rate in our nation’s history, have startling rates of prescription drug and alcohol abuse, and are often thought of as “damaged goods.” Our society must accept the responsibility of acknowledging and confronting the moral fragmentation that our service members suffer as a result of their experiences in war. After the Yellow Ribbon at Duke Divinity School is an opportunity for the ecclesial, academic, and martial communities in particular to listen to and learn from those who endure the burden of doing violence in our name.
We invite practitioners of all disciplines, from music and the arts to theology and mental health, to respond to the challenge presented by the plight of soldiers and veterans in our midst. We want to work together to improve our efforts at prevention and reconstitution, and overcome this tragic epidemic. After the Yellow Ribbon is designed to stimulate conversation between the church, military and academic communities so that all might approach service members and veterans as human beings, and more fully understand and heal the unseen wounds of war (including PTSD and moral injury).
Presenters include:
- Lt. Col. Pete Kilner, ethicist, United States Military Academy at West Point
- Derek Webb, performing artist and activist
- Gen. Stephen N. Xenakis, retired Army Brigadier General and practicing psychiatrist
- Ch. Col. Herman Keizer, retired Army Chaplain Colonel
- Dr. Warren Kinghorn, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Pastoral and Moral Theology at Duke Divinity School
- Dr. J. Warren Smith, Associate Professor of Historical Theology at Duke Divinity School
- David Miller, DMin, Associate Professor of Missional Leadership Development,Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary
- Peter Bowen, President of Servite High School
- Joshua Casteel, former Army interrogator, conscientious objector, author and playwright
- Dr. Harold Kudler, Associate Clinical Professor at Duke University
- Janice Jenner, Director of Practice and Training Institute of the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University
- Rev. Shirley King and Patricia Harris, Women Veterans Support Services
- Shenandoah Nieuwsma, Ph.D Candidate Religious Studies, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
- VA Chaplains Bill Cantrell and John Oliver
- William Portier, Mary Ann Spearin Chair of Catholic Theology at the University of Dayton.
- Maj. Ken Walden, pastor, Lakewood Methodist Church, author
After the Yellow Ribbon is organized by Milites Christi, a Duke Divinity School student organization. Milites Christi (Soldiers of Christ) is a Duke Divinity School student organization dedicated to cultivating conversations with students, staff, and faculty, to advance the interests of prospective, current, and former service members in the church, world, and academy. Our primary aim is to develop a pastoral response to the problem of war and peace based on a fundamental conviction that God directs us towards peaceful resolution of conflict.