Quote Originally Posted by Sinfix_15 View Post
That is correct. How would you define the perimeters of war through the eyes of a religion? how does a religion declare war? Who is the army in this setting and what justifies any war between them?

Is the war against non-believers? That is how i interpret it and i would assume it is the same way that islamic extremist do as well. The decapitations have not been limited to soldiers of war, just "non-believers". Even in a battle setting, does it not seem odd to endorse beheading and disfigurement? What message does this send?
If you take it in the context in which it was written, the world was very different and much "smaller". At that point in time, there was little distinction between what constituted a citizen or a soldier. It was considered "normal" for a group conquering another to kill/execute the male citizens back in those times, in that part of the world - and that was not limited to the Muslim/Jewish conflicts. All of Europe, and most of Asia also had these violent tendencies in their cultures as well. The decapitations/executions and severing of limbs was not unusual at that point in history.

When you say that religion is declaring war, it shows that you do not understand the history of the book or the region of which you discuss.
There were two groups - those that followed Mohammed, and believed in his words, and those that did not. Those that did not were "non-believers" obviously, and did not try to live peacefully with Mohammed's followers, so of course, they were the enemy. The actual writings were not made until around 150 years after the death of Mohammed, from what I have read. Up until that time, they were passed down orally from generation to generation.