Tuesday 14 December 2010

Pastor Terry Jones: The Wrong Kind Of Bigot

Bigoted nutter magnet, the English Defence League, claim they have now withdrawn their invitation to bigoted American Christian nutter, pastor Terry Jones, to speak at a rally in Luton.
'A far-right group has shelved plans for the US preacher who ­threatened to burn copies of the Koran to speak at their rally – as he is “too racist and homophobic”' according to the Mirror.
Fagburn is loving that "too..."
It seems to be an invention of the Mirror though, and the "homophobic and racist" quote that appears in most papers today, such as The Guardian, does not appear in the EDL's public statement on their website.
The relevant passage is a bit less direct; "...we still have some reservations about Pastor Jones and we do not agree with all of his opinions or indeed all he stands for.
"The EDL is extremely proud of its diverse support base including it’s primary base of geographical divisions from all across England encompassing much ethnic diversity. In addition we have specific divisions drawn from groups particularly threatened by encroaching Sharia: a Lesbian Gay Bisexual & Transgender (LGBT) Division [There is no evidence of such a "division" existing - Fagburn]; a Jewish Division and recently a Pakistani Christian Division. The EDL also enjoys the active participation and support of many former members of the Armed Forces. In light of our strong commitment to these groups and some of the Pastor’s statements and associations, we feel it inappropriate to offer Pastor Terry Jones an invitation to attend an EDL demonstration."
The admirable anti-fascist group Hope Not Hate point out; "Of course this is all complete nonsense. The original EDL posting last week claimed they were “proud to announce” his visit. In interviews over the weekend it was clear that Pastor Jones knew very little about the EDL and that he had accepted their invitation to come over.
"In truth, the EDL was forced to backtrack because the media took up our campaign and shone the spotlight onto his cranky and extremist views. Under pressure from some of its own members, the EDL leadership eventually realised that the crazy Pastor was even too extreme for them and would quickly become an embarrassment."
And if the EDL think you're embarrassing...

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