The EDL are not fascists and not racist? (EDL burn nazi flag video)

I'm sure there certainly are racists in the EDL. Obviously all I know of you is from an internet persona, but I'll take your word for it Maybe alot of people have jumped ship from the BNP to the EDL, I don't know myself. I distance myself from stuff like this as much as possible. All I know is that I was incredibly uncomfortable sharing the same space as the people in that pub, and I'll never go back there again. The whole idea of it to me, the whole idea of nationalism, to me, is daft. We all live on this big rock called earth. It really doesn't matter which bit of it we inhabit. We all need to be somewhere. No limitations on that should ever be imposed. 1 planet for the human race.

Maybe I don't know enough about the EDL (well duh! ) I just have an uneasy feeling about it. It's going to stir up racial tension from those who oppose/missunderstand their aims. that's not a good thing. It all seems very right wing to me. (I;m a fairly hard lefter, never going to agree with right wing stances)

reply to post by Acidtastic


You raise an important point about those susceptible to being brought on-side with the EDL without understanding their ideology or motives. The exact same can be said of UAF, I'll grant to a degree (on account of it being brought into being by... was it the SWP?) HOWEVER any such Pied Piper-esque effect by UAF would be less than the EDL as the EDL itself if a political body (even without the BNP/C18 connections).

While I should in fairness declare an interest here that I'm against the right-wing in this country in all forms, I'm also against deceptiveness and manipulation of opinion - and if UAF were guilty of these things I'd be inclined to disregard them as the be-all-end-all "alternative" to the EDL's activism (I can cite several examples of people involved with UAF events that are just there for the kudos, for instance, and that whole "GETTING INVOLVED" back-patting vibe. That's not for me, I prefer Purpose over Prizes). But I'm also an anti-theist and ANY religious imposition is going to attract my opposition, whether it's Islam or a religion my mum were to make up

Originally posted by Kolya
But I'm also an anti-theist

anti-theist? you are anti-people who believe in god?!? i think i prefer the nazi's, at least they're selective about who they hate.

reply to post by pieman


I'm opposed to theism, not individual theists. Bad phrasing/word-use on my part.

opposing belief in god generally is hardly any better, being anti-someone elses spiritual beliefs is what causes all the problems. there's no difference between an atheist who opposes the belief in god and a christian who opposes the belief in a non-christian god.

anyway, i'm off topic, i'll stop now, sorry.

[edit on 23/3/10 by pieman]

reply to post by pieman


As I said, dropped the terminology ball on this one. I was trying to sum up my stance in one word for brevity and failed miserably
I'll clarify and try and undo the mess I caused: I'm opposed to the imposition of Religion 1 on the lives of Religion 2/3/4-followers and atheists based upon "us > you" mentality. George Carlin once said "Thou shalt keep thy religion to thyself" and it's a good idea, since it allows religion to be held for personal benefit and belief yet no one's being bothered. If I haven't explained myself fully and we are going off-topic, I'm happy to discuss it U2U. I wouldn't want sleep-deprived fuzzy-thinking on my part causing friction on here

is the EDL the agent provocateur for the newly "politically correct" BNP?

read somewhere on ATS that lots of EDL members are ex soccer hooligans and BNP members

divert and distract tactics maybe? plausible deniability?

reply to post by Moon Knight


Many EDL members do come from the Casual Culture background, that is not to say they are or even were football hooligans.
I know plenty of Casuals who the closest they have been to an on top ruck has been watching Football Factory and Green Street, lol.

en.wikipedia.org...(subculture)

There seem to be many assumptions made about EDL and more urban myths about their connections and affiliations.

It is only possible to speak about one's own personal experiences and I know quite a few members of EDL from all around the country and can honestly say none are racist.
However, the one thing they do have is concerns about the advancement of Islam within this country and the apparent unwillingness of all major political parties to address this situation.

If the EDL do nothing else but raise awareness of this wolf within our lair then I will say they have been a success.