Here.
I'm reaching for the antacids after some of the gun control commentary I'm reading, even some here on FR.
Posted on 04/18/2007 5:35:28 PM PDT by jdm
Apr 18, 2007 — "Ismail-Ax." These two words were scribbled in red ink on the arm of Seung-hui Cho, the 23-year-old Virginia Tech student who killed 32 others and then himself in a bloody rampage Monday.Cho was an English major and poet whose writings had raised eyebrows in the past. But what could "Ismail-Ax" mean? Is the phrase spiritual, poetic or just a bizarre expression of a troubled student?
Watch the full story on "Nightline" tonight at 11:35 p.m. EDT
One "Nightline" viewer recognized "Ismail-Ax" from a poem he had read by Drum Hadley, the 1960s beat poet. The poem is called the "The Goat Ranchers" and in it Hadley, under the pseudonym Yonder Ridgeline, writes about "Ishmael's Ax."
Here's the excerpt:
Went where they'd herded goats when they were kids,
Went where they were lovers,
Went where they were married here, those fifty years ago.
Traces of Ishmael's ax on the scarred trunks of the cedar trees,
Crossing the canyons and winding arroyos.Do you know the meaning behind "Ismail-Ax?" Let us know on the "Nightline" message board.
While some may see a parallel, this poem does not have a disastrous ending like the tragedy in Virginia. Hadley writes of a couple, married 50 years, reflecting on their time together.
Others recognize the name Ismail for its religious significance . A similar name, Ishmael, is widely known as the name of the eldest son of Abraham, father of the Israelites. He appears in the Christian, Muslim and Islamic faiths, and his character is both revered and criticized throughout all three religions.
According to Strong's Dictionary, the name "Ishmael" literally translates as "God will hear."
With the origin of "Ismail-Ax" still unknown, the Internet has erupted with people trying to decipher its true meaning. Perhaps they hope that unlocking the secret behind "Ismail-Ax" will explain how a troubled kid could commit an act so terrible.
Well - they didn’t write in English. Yishma`e’l is a more precise spelling.
I googled "30 Rockefeller Avenue" and got an ipod site directory (with nbc mentioned). I wonder if he posted there somehow. Don't know much about ipods. (I went back and see the incorrect zip.)
The spelling difference doesn’st mean squat- you realize there’s not even a single “correct” spelling using English letters for “Osama bin Laden aka Oussama bin Laden, Usama Binladen,” or for “al Qaeda aka al Qaida aka al Qehdah, aka al Queada aka Alqaeda,” the prophet “Mohamed aka Mahammad aka Mohammed aka Muhummad aka Mohamad aka Mahammed aka Mohammad aka Muhamed,” or even for the “Koran aka Quran aka Q’uran,” don’t you? If they can’t agree on what English spelling of the Holy Q’uran to use or what version of Muhammed to use what makes you think they have settled on one spelling for Ismail? One spelling for a given person’s name? That’d be a first! They may be consistent spellers when using arabic script but when sounds are translated phonetically Arabic words no standardized English spellings.
It’s Ishmael in the King James version of the Bible.
Here.
I'm reaching for the antacids after some of the gun control commentary I'm reading, even some here on FR.
St. Paul refers to Ishmael in Galatians 4.22-31 (as the son of the bondwoman—Hagar’s name is mentioned but not Ishmael’s). He must not have gotten the message that Ishmael was supposed to be “revered.”
Exactly ... I'm not aware of any Christians that "revere" Ishmael. I can't speak for Jews, but I find it hard to believe Ishmael is a "revered" figure in their circles either.
(wink, wink) your secret will be safe with me-just wear
black....jj61
Bingo. I think you're exactly right. It's also worth noting that some people jump a generation ahead to Jacob and Esau. They claim Esau to be the "father" of all Arabs and Jacob the "father" of all Jews; they then claim that Jacob's title to the inheritance given him by his father is invalid due to two events: First, Jacob pulled his now infamous trick of putting animal fur on his arms to make his blind old father Isaac believe that he was his hairy brother Esau, and thus received the inheritance (including the land given to Israel by God) that was rightfully Esau's. The second event is the barter in which a hungry Esau traded his inheritance to Jacob in exchange for a bowl of soup.
IMHO, the key thing to remember about all of this is that despite these events, God reaffirmed that the Abrahamic covenant was extended through Isaac and Jacob, and this reaffirmation came AFTER the above events. This settled the issue with utter finality. Yes, Jacob behaved dishonestly, but God did not strip the inheritance from him; the land belongs to Israel, period. One could also make the case that this is a beautiful parallel to the larger picture of grace: We sin, but He loves us and guarantees our salvation through his Son anyway.
MM
If I took a wild guess, I would think “88 Revol” has something to do with Hitler and revolution.
IMO, it could just be symbolic, and just something he came up with because a return address is mandatory.
bump to read later.....
Mr. Lenin - awaken the boy
Mr. Stalin - bi-sexual epoch
Kruschev - self love in his mirrors
Brezhnev - married into group sex
Gorbachev - celibate self importance
Yeltsin - failure is his own impotence
Revol revol
Revol revol
Lebensraum kulturkampf
Raus raus
Fila fila
Napoleon - childhood sweethearts
Chamberlain - you see God in you
Trotsky - honeymoon - serenade the naked
Che Guevara - you’re all target now
Pol Pot - withdrawn traces bye bye
Farrakhan - alimony alimony
Revol revol
Revol revol
Lebensraum kulturkampf
Raus raus
Fila fila
I ran the tracking info on this package:
Label/Receipt Number: EQ52 6158 322U S
Status: Delivered
Your item was delivered at 11:26 AM on April 18, 2007 in NEW YORK, NY 10112. The item was signed for by G DAVIS.
Looks like NBC really did receive this package only this morning.
they’re dead set on denying an islamic connection.
The Islamic version is a bit different than what jdm mentioned.
Ismail was not the destroyer of idolatry.
Abraham (Ibrahim) destoryed the pagan temples alone when he was young and before he had childern.
There was no mention of him and Ismail using the axes.
Ismail was the one to be sacrificed instead of Isaac.
The islamic version doesnt have much of a chosen one and an outcast. Both Isaac and Ismail were prophets that served two different regions.
The reference of Abraham story destorying the idols
is in quran chapter 21 verse 51 to 70.
verse 58
“So he broke them into pieces, except the chief of them, that haply they may return to it.”
Then in verse 72; it menions Isaac and Jacob as Abraham sons then Ismail in a later verse 85.
Isaac is considered the older son of abraham from Sara, then Ismail comes after.
This, I believe, fits the bill more than any other theory being proposed.
But it's like the Jumpers at the Two Towers on 9-11; way too dangerous to let the public see the awful truth.
I would go one step further.
I have always thought that Islam, as a religion, had its roots in Ishmael (Mohammed 's ancestor) still trying to be Isaac (Israel).
I have always thought that the parallels go back to Lucifer wanting to be God.
We are dealing with deep spiritual forces here, not that anyone in the MSM has the depth to understand such things.
See kittymyrib's post # 44.
So we have someone who
1) Identifies himself as Ishmael
2) Shaves his head
3) Makes a "martyr's" video which includes disparaging comments about Christianity
4) Goes out and massacres a mass of people.
?????????
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