In Remembrance Week, ex-General says spiritual dimension is essential to military life

General Lord Richard Dannatt

Speaking in the 2011 Theos Annual lecture on Tuesday, General Lord Richard Dannatt, ex- Head of the Armed Forces, has said a moral dimension is essential to soldiering today, but is not enough. There also needs to be a spiritual dimension.

Talking about his own personal experiences in the military, but also recounting some of the doubts and fears that ordinary soldiers experiences in their tours of duty, Dannatt repeatedly said that "Everyone, when push comes to shove, is reaching our for something bigger than themselves." He spoke of his own deeply held Christian faith and said that when he was Chief of Staff he had instructed the Chaplain General "to make sure that everyone deployed on operations has some understanding of the Christian message."

But he was very clear in the Q&A, that whilst the spiritual dimension was important, it was "down to individuals to work out what their spiritual dimension is for themselves."

Dannatt also spoke about Iraq, Afghanistan and the relationship of religion to modern conflict saying that "too...much warfare has been conducted in the name of...religion."

However, he said: "what we are doing in Afghanistan is nothing to do with any Judeo-Christian campaign against Islam." He said that wars were fought "under the banner of religion" because it is "often rather easier to motivate people [with] religion, than to describe...political motives."

Elizabeth Hunter, director of Theos, said: "Whether or not you agree that the military is the right place to look for moral guidance, there is a consensus in society about the need for it. In a time where we are wrestling with what seem to be moral failures across all sections of society, perhaps we should heed Dannatt's advice to look beyond the moral to the spiritual."

Bruce Kent, vice of Pax Christi commented: "General Dannatt is quite right. We all need an overarching spiritual dimension to our lives. Alongside that the military need to have a working knowledge of international law, the confidence to be able to distinguish illegal military activity from legitimate actions and the courage in some
circumstances to say 'No' ."

The whole text of General Lord Dannatt's speech is available here: http://campaigndirector.moodia.com/Client/Theos/Files/Hearts.doc.