You probably already know this, but in James Fennimore Cooperís story ìThe Prairie,î the settler Ishmael Bush, who is attempting to escape from civilization, sets out across the prairie with two key tools, a gun and an axe. Each has a symbolic meaning. The axe ó which can either kill or provide shelter ó stands for both creation and destruction. Given that the VT killer was an English major, might this be the likely meaning of the words on his arm? Just my two cents.

Kevin Griffel on April 18, 2007 at 9:22 am

If the VA killer was not a muslim he certainly was dabbling in it. The Ismail ax written on his arm surely meant something to him. “Cho was found with the words ìIsmael Axî written in red ink on one of his arms, the Washington Post reported law enforcement sources as saying. The New York Post tried to explain what ìIsmael Axî means:
The reference may be to the Islamic account of the Biblical sacrifice of Abraham, where God commands the patriarch to sacrifice his own son. Abraham begins to comply, but God intervenes at the last moment to save the boy Ö Abraham uses a knife in most versions of the story, but some accounts have him wielding an ax.
A more obscure reference may be to a passage in the Koran referring to Abrahamís destruction of pagan idols; in some accounts, he uses an ax to do so.”
By the way he was an English major not engineering.
It is sad the government keeps hiding the crimes these muslims do. It is always they went insane suddenly when they kill a number of non muslims. Too many incidents like this. If you read the quran or listen to what the imams are saying you can tell Islam is a violent religion. Look into Mohammeds history. It’s not one of peace.

Taurus on April 18, 2007 at 10:04 am

Salem Witch Trials: 20 executed.
Inquisition: 2,000 – 5,000 executed (estimated).
March 2007 deaths due to global Jihad: 2,000 (approximate).
…yeah, there’s balance. Jihad Kibra is hazardous to your health.
Christian oppression of women? Please explain the Sura dealing with the disciplining of ones wife? The Nicab? Slave ownership?
Salaami.

SickBoy on April 18, 2007 at 11:06 am

From Taurus’ comment:
“Abraham uses a knife in most versions of the story, but some accounts have him wielding an ax.”
Does the Post have a link or reference to an account that has Abraham using an ax? I couldn’t find anything and the only versions of the story I could find had no mention of a weapon of any kind? Can anyone nail the reference? He is said to be using one to smash up idols.
Akak: I was confused by the quote you provided. Was Ishmael talking to Abraham during the destruction of the idols? I thought Ishmael was born after.
Anyway, I’m Catholic so I have no real clue. I’m also hoping we hear more from the press to clarify . Maybe this dude’s notes and whatnot will settle the issue.

hal9914 on April 18, 2007 at 1:15 pm

As I stated in a comment to the post that debbie has (thankfully) removed from the site, we can stop these wild speculations about Cho having Muslim ties. It has now come out that his family is Christian, as are the overwhelming majority of South Koreans both in South Korea and in the US, the bulk of the remainder being Buddhist. Furthermore, Cho had stated in the videos he sent to NBC that he would “die like Jesus.”
As I said in my other comment: we must face up to the fact that Islam isn’t the only religion which can play into a violent sociopath’s delusions. Christianity can fit the bill just as well, and, indeed, often has over the course of history.

Khinasava on April 19, 2007 at 1:49 am

Since the original thread I posted to got wiped out, and it fits here just as well…
ISMAIL IS NOT FROM THAT. MOBY DICK USES THE ENGLISH VERSION OF THE NAME. ISMAIL IS ARABIC.
Good point- It’s very troubling that no one noticed this Pakistani on a student visa walking around with Arabic written on his forearm.
Although I suppose the fact that he was a Korean raised mostly in the US, who apparently used the English version, “Ishmael”- well, that might have thrown less astute observers off.
But not Debbie!!! Way to go!!!
Remind me- what happens in baseball when the batter swings and misses three pitches in a row?
Although I will admit, it’s been entertaining watching someone so fail so insistently, vehemently and spectacularly right from the word go. 😉

KarmaPolice on April 19, 2007 at 3:07 am

In the Bible,Ishmael is presented as a violent reprehensible man. In the Qu’ran, he is considered the father of Muslims and a hero. I think there is a connection to both.

the_don on April 19, 2007 at 9:52 am

“As I said in my other comment: we must face up to the fact that Islam isn’t the only religion which can play into a violent sociopath’s delusions. ”
Islam commands it, supports it, and codifies it….against non-Muslims of course. For fighting Jihad and becoming a Shahid is the way.
“Christianity can fit the bill just as well,”
By twisted screws, which cannot be spiritually justified except by White Power nut jobs. What passage in the NT commands killing non-Christians to spread the “word”?
“indeed, often has over the course of history.”
Please save the “Crusades” crap…What were they in response to again? Jim Jones you say? puulease. The VT nutjob wanting to die like Jesus, is him Feeeling like a “misunderstood” wannabe martyr. Its a Shahada video, no matter how you slice it. No, no, I’ve got it…blame the “racist” society he came from…Northern Virginia. Been to the D.C metro area lately? Since let’s see..since…hmm…the late ’70’s? Can’t get much more diverse thanthat.
”

SickBoy on April 19, 2007 at 9:55 am

“VERY PLAUSIBLE EXPLANATION . . . IF HE WAS READING MOBY DICK IN ARABIC. SOMETHING WHICH I’M SURE MOST SOUTH KOREANS DO EVERY DAY.
DEBBIE SCHLUSSEL”
dear crazy bitch…
if you bother to do any research before you run your fat mouth you would see that on the package sent to NBC news, Cho spelled it “Ishmail” and also frequently referred to Jesus Christ and never to mohammed. i realize that your hate-spewing came before these FACTS but dont let that stop you from issuing a correction. but then again, you probably realize you will get more attention (and hopefully money and media apparences) from spewing garbage rather than facts and actual reporting. Good luck with that…although you will never be able to fill your hero, MANN COULTER’S shoes

cheneyshootsguy on April 19, 2007 at 3:26 pm

“Islam commands [killing], supports it, and codifies it….against non-Muslims of course. For fighting Jihad and becoming a Shahid is the way.”
You say that Christianity can only be used for violence when it is perverted beyond recognition by twisted nut cases. I agree. But why aren’t you willing to allow the same condition for Islam, that the violent fundamentalist strain of Islam is a perversion of that religion? Especially when millions of Muslims the world over aren’t killing people, and don’t want people to be killed, but simply want to live a normal day-to-day life. Are such people being bad Muslims?
But religion isn’t only perverted by twisted nut jobs. It is also twisted by self-serving despotic rulers. Don’t worry, I don’t need to harp on the Crusades. I’m thinking more of the religious wars which spanned a century in Europe, in which pillaging and murdering was done by Catholics and Protestants in the name of fighting for “true Christianity.” It is extremely telling that after Phillip II of Spain finished chasing the Muslim Turks out of Europe, he then turned his attention to exterminating the Protestants. He saw them as the next big threat to Christianity! (and the next big threat to his own power). In the meantime, Catholic and Protestant extremists were assassinating leaders left and right. Politics perverts religion. Don’t you think that maybe, just maybe, the Taleban and others like them have similarly perverted Islam for their own selfish purposes?
No religion is immune to being perverted. Islam has gone through periods where what was “foreign” and “non-Muslim” wasn’t seen as evil or demonic (otherwise, Islamic cultures would never have preserved the works of ancient Greek philosophers which had been lost in Europe because the Church destroyed them) and Muslims were able to peacefully coexist with Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, and Christians. On the other hand, Islamic history has gone through periods of intolerance, no doubt about it. But the same patterns of peace and violence have occurred in Christianity. To ask whether Islam is “more” or “less prone to perversion” than Christianity is to a certain degree beside the point. What is important is that a religion isn’t inherently a “religion of peace” or a “religion of violence,” and that there is always the possibility for change.

Khinasava on April 19, 2007 at 7:15 pm

While the Protestants and Catholics hav had their differences in the past, and yes, people killed for “power and control”…it cannot be justified in with any NT text. I think the Western world has moved past the Middle Ages n’est pas?
When you say Islam has “had” periods of intolerance; do you mean before Mohammed left for Medina or after his “flight” to Medina. (Interesting choice of words no? “Flight” vice say trip, or departure, or whatever else. Why did he leave Mecca again? People were tired of his malarky? {This is called thread drift} Tell ya what, enlighten those of us who don’t know why there is “AH” means in the Islamic calendar…and when the violent Suras where written… Any place where Muslims have been the minority, there has been pluralistic and universal “Peace.” Wherever they approach demographic parity, and or a majority…stand-by…the “lesser” Jihad overtakes the “greater” Jihad. Apologetics and facts aside, aside, the massacre was F’d up. No “understanding”, or “mercy” should be shown to ANY barbarians period. His actions and video is/were text book late 20th and 21st century Shahada activity.
Ya know, I mean, if let’s see…a Jewish or Christian “prophet” writes a book and says all other non-believers are “apes, pigs, Pagans” et al etc. well, the author, and the ideology they voice, would be considered “racist”, “fascist, “intolerable”, “right-wing extremist”, “phobic”, or whatever other label the leftist choose to label them…. …but Submission is given a pass. Hmm.
Why?
Signed,
John Sobieski, Winston Churchill, T. Jefferson, Chris Colombus, Darfor Christian Coalition, Budhist Stone Workers Union, Jizyah Releif Society, Anti-Psycotropic League, and every single soul murdered for a f’d up dry grass land thug named Mo Mo the wannabe. (Think about it, if only Cho had the people skills of Mohammed, he might of had a “religion” ??

SickBoy on April 20, 2007 at 9:54 am

BAN GUNS FOR NON-U.S. CITIZENS. If you want to buy a gun? Become an U.S. citizen

KOAJaps on April 21, 2007 at 12:21 am

Dear Sirs Ismail ax is an interesting name on his arm for profilling. Ismail in the Bible and the Koran was rejected by his father Abraham the first person God made covenment marriage with. Ismail Rejected by God in Abraham household which held this coverment Ismail Rejected by his steptmother because of her child Issac was more important Abraham gave Ismail and his birth mother short food and kicked them out of his home to the wilderness where God said he would bless him with some water and give him to be the father of a great nation. Ismail is clearly been rejected which would humiliate his selfesteem. Bible : Genesis 21: Thank you

ljc on April 21, 2007 at 8:27 am