First it was Johnny Muhammad, now it was Cho Sueng Hui aka Ismail Ax. Precisely how many mass shooters have to turn out to have adopted Muslim names before we get it? Islam has become the tribe of choice of those who hate American society. I’m not talking about people who grew up as Muslims, confident and secure in their faith, good fathers, sons and neighbors. I’m talking, about the angry, malignant, narcissist loners who want to reject their community utterly, to throw off their ‘slave name’ and represent the downtrodden of the earth by shooting their friends and neighbors.
[Not everyone agrees with what it means.]
This morning I read that the Virginia Tech shooter died with the name Ismail Ax written in red ink on his arm. The mainstream press doesn’t seem to have a clue as to what this might mean. To quote Indiana Jones, “Didn’t any of you guys go to Sunday School?”
The story starts with a man named Abraham. He is the father of the Jews, the Muslims and the Christians. He was born in Iraq, the son of a wealthy idol manufacturer. He came to believe that there was only one true God and, according to tradition, took up his ax and destroyed his father’s idols.
Eventually he left Iraq and moved to what is now known as Israel. He had a son with his concubine whom she named Ishmael. The Muslim world prefers the Arabic spelling of the name: Ismail. Eventually Abraham had a son by his rightful wife and named the son Isaac. Ishmael and his mother were disinherited and sent out into what is now Saudi Arabia. Isaac became the heir.
Eventually, God decided to test Abraham by telling him to kill his son, Isaac. Abraham took up the knife, but God stopped him at the last moment. Isaac lived and eventually became a man of great wealth. Ishmael became a desert warrior chieftain.
The Jews are the descendants of Isaac, the Arabs are the descendants of Ishmael.
In the 7th Century, Muhammad, the founder of Islam, re-wrote the story, claiming that Ismail was the true faithful descendant of Abraham and that it was he, not Isaac, who God told Abraham to sacrifice. Ismail was the one saved. For Muslims, Ismail (not Isaac) was the true ‘Son of Sacrifice.’ In the original version of the story, Abraham used a knife, in some of the later Muslim versions, he used an Ax.
Flash forward 1,400 years: a sullen, angry young man who rages against rich people and apparently against Christians, writes a play in which a mother and son try to kill his step-father, but in the end the boy (age about 13, the age many think Ismail was when he was exiled) is murdered by the step-father with ‘a deadly blow’. Father issues? Yeah, I think so.
Cho Sueng-hui cum Ismail Ax hated the American society to which he had been brought 15 years earlier. His play McBeef (a poor pun from an English Lit major on Macbeth) is one endless screed against the corruption of American culture. A cheesy re-telling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, it involves a young man abused by his step-father, a former NFL football player. The son, throws epithets at his father calling him a ‘Catholic priest’. And makes derisive comments about McDonalds. It seems that none of the foundational structures of Western Civilization, Christianity, capitalism, family, are spared his rage. In other words, he really meant what he said in his last words: “you (that is us, America) made me do this.”
hello
i have no idea where i should start..so started by saying hello
firstly, peace and blessing to all the virginia tech victims
sencondly, i want to let you be aware of that fact that, just because one wrote “ismail ax” doesnt mean that he/she is a ‘muslim’. it is a common knowledge for students who have taken any religious courses in university. also there are plenty of books that will talk about’ismail ax’. so it is nothing divine or extraordinary that will symbolize if a person to be a muslim or not.
secondly, cho, as the world know him as, unlike ur creative name u made up, is not a muslim name from any prism. AND MOHAMMED WAS NEVERRRRRRR HIS NAME. his name was CHO. And, if he converted to islam, supposdley,it is quite(extremely) hard to believe that he would name ‘Johnny’ as his first name (which is a christian name)
thirdly, if he practices any faith, which most of the ppl in that region don’t but if he did, it was most likely Christianity, as he compared himself to Christ (goodness sake, jesus chist dont teach that), but unfornatly he feels he has done something like christ as he wrote: “Thanks to you, I die like Jesus Christ, to inspire generations of the weak and the defenseless people.”, exact words taken from CNN news/internet.
(Again, there might be a possiblity his knowledge(supposed)about Christ, can be from religious courses and books)
thirdly, its truly tragic how ISLAM AND MUSLIMS, has become the scapegoat of any tragic event that occur in U.S., just remember muslims have died in this event as they did in 9/11. AND they are still dieing in iraq, afganistan. It is not islam that teaches such absurd killings, but the people “who” think they know. Most muslims, dont share such absurd views.
fourtly, i wonder how u have so much confindence and guts to lie to the world, to spead false information because of your hate for muslims, just remember, u may (well you are, congrats!) be fooling the world, but u wouldnt be able to fool God..now would u??
final but not the least, are some suggestions that will prevent u from being another Cho:
-find peace in ur heart, regardless of which faith u practice
-open ur mind and heart, and gain knowledge in histories of other ppl
-free urself to find the truth
-bring love, and not hate for ppl, animals and the world itself!
peace!
Rebel without a religion?
This is an interesting take by the author. There is apparently a certain mind-set which some people develop that can manifest itself in different forms such as Nazism, Communism, Islam, or in this case, even an improvised freelance set of personal beliefs.
Islamic culture has made an institution of this mind-set which sees itself as a victim and everything else as an irredeemable evil which can only be destroyed.
I have no doubt that this is the spirit that Islam is built upon and that Islam is the most prolific example of this.
But beware, Islam is not the only breeding ground, it is but one vehicle, and we would best remember how many people the Communist and Nazis slaughtered in their quest.
Islam is a conspicuous enemy but not the only one in the world today; there are other nations and societies which if they come to possess enough power will create a conducive environment in which the the people can be convinced they are victims and the “us vs. them” mentality can flourish.
It is a mistake to believe that the force that drove this young man is not prevalent to various degrees in many places. It would be easy to write-off what happened as an aberration that produces a few isolated cases from time to time. This mentality, if it gains traction within a society, can become mainstream and embedded in the cultural as evidenced by what took place in Germany 70 years ago, or what took place under Stalin or Mao, or what is occurring presently in Islamic societies.
Another one of Cho’s intriguing and possibly anti-Jewish hate manifestations is his drawing of two intertwined 8’s that he sent to NBC, since “88” is code for “Heil Hitler.” (because “h” is eighth letter in alphabet)