EDL: Not the Friends of St George

This Sunday, 22nd April, just shy of St George's Day, there will be a 'March for England' in Brighton. The march is being organised either by the English Defense League or a group linked with them.

The Anti-Nazi League will be present to make their own protest against the march.  This will not be the first time that Brighton has been witness to an EDL march.

The EDL claim on their website that they are 'peacefully opposing Islamic extremism in the UK'. The various pictures and videos that I have seen of the EDL suggest instead that the group is comprised of hooligans who enjoy sinking twelve pints, spewing hatred across the streets of the particular town or city in which they are marching and then protesting against Islam by going for a chicken korma afterwards. Perhaps a giveaway that this is the case is given on the website of the group who ask that instead of donations, supporters buy them a pint instead.

Of course, politicians of the mainstream parties have only themselves to blame for the creation of a sub-culture of disaffected white youths through an immigration policy that uses immigration to replace the population of white British babies who never come into existence by contraception or who are prevented from being born through medical and surgical abortion. There has been a rather reckless and determined attempt by Labour, in particular, to water down the British culture of the country through immigration - a deliberate social engineering process that we see is now bringing tensions to the surface, especially in troubled economic times. However, it is clear that EDL are attempting to tap in to these tensions and frustrations in order to direct animosity towards the muslim population of the United Kingdom.

EDL: Falsely tapping into Christian cultural heritage

If you read the website of the EDL, you could be mistaken for wondering whether you had stumbled across a resurrection of the Knights Templar. The group deliberately attempt to portray this as a Christian initiative to combat Islamic extremism and a 'takeover' of the host country. The reality, of course, is that the football hooligan community have very little in common with the original vision of the Christian Knight and that the victory of Christianity in the UK, if it is ever to occur, will not be won by thuggery, but repentance.

I saw a Muslim who I taught at the Brighton Unemployed Centre Families Project yesterday and he talked about the banks, the economic crisis and how the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer. He told me that until the UK embraced Sharia Law things would remain the same. I responded, "Or even the Church's view" saying that "we too condemned usury". He responded positively to that. Muslims believe in social justice and naturally believe they have the answer. There is a great deal of justice in Islam, if not a great deal of mercy where it is the national State religion. Most Muslims in Britain however, I expect, do not desire to 'takeover' the country to impose upon it Islam's way. I think that the young man agreed with me that traditional morality in general had been dispensed with in every sphere of British life and therefore everything was falling to pieces.

I don't know the Muslim chap that well, but I must say that I despise the idea of him and the other young man I taught feeling like they should stay indoors on Sunday because the EDL will be marching through Brighton calling for an end to the building of mosques and the expulsion of Muslims from the United Kingdom. People like Abu Qatada, of course, do not help the Islamic cause in Great Britain and certainly colour people's view of Islam in the UK, but then, again, politicians are to blame for that case dragging out into eternity. The other danger is that the angry mob of the EDL, who almost certainly are a cover for the far right in the UK, eventually draw Muslims to confrontation and we end up seeing violence and bloodshed on the streets of Luton, Bradford, Birmingham, parts of London and even Brighton.

While the EDL presents itself as an organisation under the banner of the Cross, let it be said that they have more in common with hardline Muslims that they do with the Church. It is likely that hardline Muslims and EDL marchers share common ground on their view of homosexuals. While in Iran, they are hung or stoned to death, or beheaded, EDL marchers, I expect, wouldn't mind 'beating up a queer'. While they present themselves under the banner of the Cross and St George, the likelihood is that a return of the United Kingdom to under the Mantle of the Blessed Mother of God and to the Catholic Church would have EDL marchers running a mile. Don't be fooled by them. While there may be an element of 'peaceful protesters' in the EDL marchers, the majority, I expect, are just up for a drink, a fight and a late night curry and I doubt, given that the event will be on a Sunday, that these (mostly) men will have been to Mass prior to the 'March for England'. Say a prayer for peace in Brighton this Sunday and for the protection of the Muslim community in Brighton.