In fact, brutality as punishment goes back to the famous 18th century B.C. Code of Hammurabi and it may be worthwhile to note that Ham was the King of Babylon–near Bagdad, Iraq! The Hammurabi punishment for theft was the cutting off of a finger or a hand. A man’s lower lip was cut off if he kissed a married woman. Defamation was punished by cutting out the tongue. If a house collapsed killing the owner because the builder did not make it strong enough, the builder was put to death. Adultery was punished with the death of both parties by drowning, but if the husband was willing to pardon his wife, she was spared. Death was the penalty for hiding a slave. Pretty tough laws. The Mosaic code of the Hebrew nation was much more lenient.

Decapitation has been used since the beginning of time as proved by incidents recorded in the Bible. The thinking person knows that just because something is recorded in the Bible does not mean the act is recommended. The first incident in ancient literature is in Judges 5:26 (about 1250 B.C.) when an enemy of Israel, Canaanite commander Sisera, was killed. An Israeli woman drove a nail through his head while he was sleeping, then beheaded him. The message: don’t mess with Jewish women.

For centuries heads have been used for messages for proving a death, for collecting a ransom, for punishment. Ancient Greeks sent messages to dead relatives and friends by giving a message to a slave, then cutting off his head. If the Greeks forgot something, they sent another decapitated slave as a P.S.

In I Sam. 17:49-51 young David accepted Goliath’s challenge and David succeeded in knocking him down and out with his sling shot. David then took his sword and beheaded him before he could regain consciousness and carried the head to King Saul as proof of his accomplishment. David also collected on the king’s promise to give his daughter in marriage. David took Goliath’s head and got the girl’s hand.

In I Sam 31:8, 9 Saul, Israel’s first king, was found slain on the battlefield where he was beheaded by the Philistines. His body was nailed to the city wall and his head was displayed in the pagan temple of Dagon. That was the Philistines’ way of saying, “Our god is bigger than your God.” However, after about 3,500 years, most of my readers never heard of Dagon!

The New Testament reveals how John the Baptist was beheaded because he preached against King Herod taking his brother’s wife. Not much chance of modern preachers getting beheaded since most don’t do any confronting of anyone for anything at any time.

Muslims are to be blamed for originating things such as making female sexual mutilation a religious observance, temporary marriages, the burka, modern terrorism, and their fanatical religion but beheadings cannot be laid at their feet. However, they are using the gruesome practice to strike terror in everyone, friends and foes. They are saying: “Don’t mess with us. We are invincible. You will end up like this.”

ISIS uses a small, dull knife to produce a terror effect rather than a sharp sword or, better yet, an automatic rifle that would be quicker and far less messy. The American-trained Iraqi army fled from the horror of the bold, brash, beheading bandits. And there may be something of the area’s ancient culture that promotes decapitation since there are Assyrian (Nineveh–Iraq) carvings showing the king removing a victim’s head almost 3000 years ago. Since television was not available at the time, the butchers used stone wall carvings to depict their King, Sennerachib, using a short knife to saw off the head of a kneeling prisoner. All that’s missing is a cell phone camera to send the images to the world.

The Assyrians were adept at warfare using the latest in iron weapons, battering rams, three-man chariots, horse-drawn tanks, etc. They purposely sought to terrify their opponents by gouging out eyes, ripping out tongues, cutting off ears, noses, sex organs; skinning them alive, and beheading. Soldiers competed with each other as to who could acquire the most heads. Children were tortured and their flesh was sliced off and fed to wolves, dogs, etc. Now you know why Jonah was not too excited about preaching to them. He didn’t want God to spare them.

Beheading of prisoners was also done in Egypt as drawings show Pharaoh Ramses II grabbing prisoners representing three rival countries, a Syrian, Nubian, and Libyan by their hair bringing their necks up to a good angle for the ax he’s holding–whop goes the head.

However, for Islam, it is much more than using terror to terrorize their enemies and keep their followers on the reservation. Beheading is a religious duty as they follow the clear teaching in Sarah 8:12 of the Koran: “I will throw fear into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Then smite the necks and smite of them each finger.” That does not reflect a “personal struggle with evil” or self-defense. It is a command to behead unbelievers. Muslims read this as a “divine” command and carry it out with gusto!

President Obama absolved Muslims of grotesque killings by saying on national television, that “ISIL is not Islamic.” Of course, he was wrong which seems to be a habit especially when Islam is an issue. After all, the terrorists say they are Muslims, attend mosques, dress like Muslims, pray toward Mecca like Muslims, talk like Muslims, raise their children to be Muslims, so of course, they are Muslims. It is embarrassing to have the leader of the free world make such a stupid statement. Everyone knows he is being politically correct, i.e. dishonest.

After British aid worker David Haines became the third Western hostage to be decapitated by Muslim terrorists, Britain’s immigration minister made a point of visiting a London mosque and declared that the beheadings “had nothing to do with Islam.” However, sane, honest, informed people know it had everything to do with Islam.

After a lady was beheaded in Oklahoma, President Obama sent a reprehensive to the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City, the mosque where the beheader, Alton Nolen, attended. Obama sent a special message thanking them for their “service.” That alone is enough to require his impeachment.

No, Muslims did not originate beheadings but they have made it front page news and proved to all honest people that they are brutish, brash, bloody barbarians.

http://bit.ly/1iMLVfY Watch these 8 minute videos of my lecture at the University of North Dakota: “A Christian Challenges New Atheists to Put Up or Shut Up!”

It seems modern Muslims are giving past decapitators a bad name!

Alexander Blackwell (died 1747) was a British adventurer who was involved in a mysterious plot in Sweden and was tried, tortured, and beheaded. At his execution, Blackwell came to the block and put his head on the wrong side. The executioner pointed out his mistake and Blackwell moved around to the correct side, saying that he was sorry for the mistake, but this was the first time that he had been beheaded. Ahh yes, beheadings were always permanent, sometimes polite, but always to the point!

Decapitation has been reintroduced into our lives by Muslim terrorists even though it is a reckless, repulsive and reprehensible way to express one’s hatred of an enemy, declare a warning to others, or to exact justice. Of course, what the Muslims know about true justice would fit into the navel of a flea. More about that later–Muslims, not the flea.

Barbarism is as old as mankind and no nation has been an exception. Astyages, the last king of Media carried barbarism to its height when he ordered his general Harpagus to eat the head of his (Harpagus’) own son, and Harpagus said that whatever a king did or said was all right with him! Cyrus the Great was Astyages’ grandson and dethroned his grandpa in 550 B.C. Good for Cyrus.

An attempted assassin in China in 1570 A.D. was buried alive in the ground with only his head exposed, and the head was slowly sawn off with a bamboo saw by passers-by for several days. This official and sluggish execution was an example to all would-be assassins that they could be next.

The Celts of Western Europe followed the “cult of the severed head” which was responsible for their reputation as head hunters. An ancient historian reports:

“They cut off the heads of enemies slain in battle and attach them to the necks of their horses. The blood-stained spoils they hand over to their attendants and striking up a paean and singing a song of victory; and they nail up these first fruits upon their houses,…They embalm in cedar oil the heads of the most distinguished enemies, and preserve them carefully in a chest, and display them with pride to strangers, saying that for this head one of their ancestors, or his father, or the man himself, refused the offer of a large sum of money. They say that some of them boast that they refused the weight of the head in gold.” Ghastly, gory, and grotesque!

Rome was known for beheading its citizens, while non-citizens were crucified. Since the Apostle Paul was a Roman citizen, he was “honored” with beheading. Christ, not being a Roman citizen, was crucified, but unlike Paul, He refused to remain dead!

Often the head of the beheaded victim was displayed in the Roman Forum as was the case of Cicero, maybe the most noble of Romans, whose hands and head were nailed on the Rostra (the podium from which he spoke!) in the Forum in 43 B.C. Cicero had antagonized Mark Antony in some of his speeches in the Forum and was identified as “an enemy of the state.”

Beheading was a popular form of capital punishment since it was quick and a cheap way to get the job done. Capital punishment derives from the Latin word “capitalis” meaning “head,” since in ancient times a death sentence typically meant the offender lost his head. However, it seems most officials went to a little extreme in carrying out their idea of justice. Death was not enough.

Beheading was often considered the honorable way to die for an aristocrat; in England it was considered the privilege of the upper class to be beheaded. Death on the gallows or burning at the stake was considered dishonorable. Women were usually burned at the stake. Severed heads often were displayed on the London Bridge, as many as 40 at a time, sending a message to citizens about rebellion against the king.

In recent days the Mexican drug cartel has been sending horror throughout the continent by dropping heads along the highways, in front of churches, etc. They are even using chain saws to make the beheadings more gruesome, ghastly, and grotesque.

All beheadings are grotesque but Muslim beheadings are the most reckless, repulsive, and reprehensible because they are religiously inspired. Islamic hypocrisy is astounding.

http://bit.ly/1iMLVfY  Watch these 8 minute videos of my lecture at the University of North Dakota: “A Christian Challenges New Atheists to Put Up or Shut Up!”