EDL....

[DandyFloss]

I am a regular who has name changed for this thread.

I would like to have a discussion about EDL. I want to know exactly why people find them so abhorrent and why it is such a taboo subject.

I dislike militant Islam, it is a dangerous movement and it really frightens me. A family friend was killed in 9/11 and it was a horrible horrible tragedy.

I have two mixed race children, my DH is mixed race, I would not say I'm racist or xenophobic.

As far as I can gather EDL oppose militant Islam, and this alone.

Why does this make them racist? Surely militant Islam, although a very small proportion of Islam, should be opposed?

Latara - we must defend free speech.

the BNP have a long history. I remember when they were linked to Combat 18 and the National Front, back when they said 'the enemy' was black people and Jews.

The BNP are linked to fascist organisations in Europe and the US who do a lot worse things than just 'offending people's sensiblities'.

Even Jack Straw MP for Blackburn admitted that there was a problem with the police and social services being afraid to do anything about Muslim paedophile gangs for fear of being accused of racism.

AdventureTed no-one is saying that we shouldn't defend free speech.

What I am saying is that the Muslims in this country have the right to free speech as well, which the EDL would happily deny them.

Muslims have the right to say they want to abide by Sharia Law, they have the right to be as militant as the EDL if they wish.

fla and Adventure please show your evidence for your remarks about the police and Jack Straw. Thank you.

flaflafla i'm sure that the police and social services in Blackburn have learned their lesson and will be less scared of being called racist in future; so i'm not sure why you are still going on about that case tbh.

Dawn

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/9254982/Rochdale-grooming-trial-police-knew-about-sex-abuse-in-2002-but-failed-to-act.html

Latara because it was known about for YEARS, but the police refused to do anything about it! What do you think that is going to do for race relations in those towns?

Well I have to go out now so it's the end of the discussion for me take care everyone.

Latara - I agree that muslims have free speech. I listen to what they have to say.

flaflafla, you are talking a load of flaflafla

"Wallison - because 'devout Muslims' are, in the majority, very silent in the UK and I haven't a clue what jihad means to them. They know about the radicals, but do nothing and say nothing, so the radical are the voices that we hear"

Bollocks. People like you hear what you want to hear.

Why the fuck should muslims have to speak up for people who are NOTHING to do with them. They are radicals and there is nothing 'muslim' about their agenda.

When that poor soldier died, my facebook wall (I know, I know) read like a Klu Klux Klan page. Because the asshole who shot him happened to be black. So the WHOLE black race was on trial. I can tell you, I deleted a few people that day...

And as an aside, my friend joined the EDL. She set up a twitter account. She ended up having an argument with some 'anti-fascist' so the EDL 'massive' piled in and weren't short of using the words 'paki, nigger, we want them all out of our country...blah blah blah'. My friend deleted her account that day and was offended because she has a mixed-race child.

The problem with the EDL, is it is the hardcore racists who seem to be their voice. And these hardcore racists seem to buy into the idea that 'radical' Islam are the muslims' voice. And the 'moderate' muslims (like there is such a thing) have their voices lost and so do the 'moderate' EDL

What is the difference between the "hardcore racists" seeming to be the voice of the EDL and the "radical Muslims" seeming to be the voice of Islam?

flafla very like a poster of old who was banned for this sort of thing Is that you DP?

Adventure that is not evidence. Empirical evidence would be the police catagorically stating that the reason was the one you have given. This is not the case, it is an assertion by an unknown person or persons. Assertions are not evidence. Now, if you have empirical evidence that the police were afraid of being called racists, please produce it. Thank you.

Adventure is veering into 'lies' territory now.

Because there is no such thing as a radical muslim. They are using islam to further their agenda. Two separate issues.

The EDL is made up of racists, bigots etc, also furthering their own agenda. The EDL do not like muslims, or their way of life. It is more to do with 'brown' people than anything else.

You are generalising the EDL but saying that generalising about Muslims is wrong.

Of course there is such thing as a radical Muslim.

Dawn -

news.sky.com/story/1101483/grooming-report-mps-say-asian-gangs-do-exist

When Lee Rigby died, the muslim communities paid their respect and were absolutely appalled that this attrocity was done in the named of Islam. They have, quite rightly, distanced themselves from the so-called radicals.

The EDL, however benign they were when they first set out, seem to have embraced the hardcore racists/fascists and have made no effort to eject them from their group.

That is the fundamental difference.

Have Muslims made any attempt to eject the extremists from their religion?

measure of EDl intelligence