[Cronos]

The war's adherence to the strict code is the Aryanic code which prevailed in Aryanic lands from India-Iran to Europe. I was pointing out that Krishna in the Gita is basically urging Arjuna to fight his cousins (ok, fighting the embodiment of evil in the form of his cousins, I'll give you that).

And yet, 1 Samuel is not the Song of Solomon or the Sermon on the mount -- that is not a philosophical injunct, rather a historical statement of what happened. The parts of the Mahabharata that deal with the war and killing, I do not consider (and nor do Hindi philosophers) in the same light as the Gita. The Gita is meant to be something to take to heart, just like the Sermon on the Mount. 1 Samuel 15:3 is not something that is philosophy.

[James C. Bennett]

And yet, 1 Samuel is not the Song of Solomon or the Sermon on the mount -- that is not a philosophical injunct, rather a historical statement of what happened.

It is not a war record. It is a record of the partial failure by the protagonist to carry out the commandments to commit child-slaughter, as issued by the divinity figure, and the consequences for failing to do so. Samuel isn't merely a historian, he's a prophet - per the religion. That, therefore, does not relegate the commandments into mere "record-keeping".

The video elaborates on the above.

As far as I'm aware, the ethics or the lack thereof, in those areas and beyond, are not challenged, by later revelations.