I, like so many, have looked on in astonishment and cringed at the recent actions of Donald Trump. He has mocked the mentally ill, slammed the Islamic Community, and suggested that England has become radicalized! Putting it mildly he hasn’t come across too well with liberals.
The most disturbing thing is probably that some people take him seriously. Of course, in our current political climate it’s easier for people like Trump to collect a following of sycophants. Terrorism involving Muslims is massively sensationalized by the media and has created a culture where, in the minds of so many, the term terrorist and Muslim seem to be almost symbiotic.
I find it chilling how far-right organisations think this is the perfect time to promote their anti-asylum rhetoric. Here in Britain we have a particularly infamous Facebook group called “Britain First”. This group appears to be run by a hybrid of the English Defence League (EDL), and the British National Party (BNP)* members. They dress up hateful, anti-asylum garbage under the hood of patriotism. They subtly gain followers via clever use of pro-military and anti-immigration memes. The problem is of course they are locked into a very real fear of many a working class man (and woman).
The issue is the same here in old Blighty as it is in the US of A. For every educated, peace-loving soul, there seems to be an equal amount of racist idiots. Unfortunately these people are fed a diet of sensationalist journalism that hypes the threat of terror, when in actuality you’re almost as likely to be killed by a vending machine as suicide bomber!
Don’t get me wrong I don’t want to gloss over the fact that France was hit by a vicious terrorist attack and a tragic amount of people were needlessly killed. We as human beings should offer condolences and, well, be human about it. But it’s important to see beyond the press machine. Islamic terrorists sell papers, especially here in the UK, where a minority seemingly believe the Crusades are still on-going.
It’s noteworthy that the majority of terrorism isn’t religiously, but state and politically motivated.
*EDL are a far-right organisation that have orchestrated violent marches against the Islamic community. (Think the KKK crossed with a Guy Ritchie movie)
BNP are a largely unpopular political party in Britain who are aggressively anti-immigration.
