Extremist Groups and their place in Society

Over the years i have never payed much attention to extremist groups and i think it would be safe to assume that a majority of the population haven't either. When i think of the term extremist group two things come to mind. White pointy hats with long flowing gowns and the movie Bad boys 2. The first thought is pretty self explanatory however the movie Bad Boys 2 will make more sense upon viewing the attached clip. (Be prepared for some swearing)






Now although the above clip is not necessarily an accurate representation of extremist groups, this is about the only exposure i have ever really had to these kind of organizations. Sad as it may be Hollywood has provided me with more information about racial hate groups than any other source. To some extent this has allowed me to distance myself from the reality of these hate groups and has allowed me to remain ignorant to the threat that groups like these have on multiculturalism. Before the internet extremist groups were small and few and the majority of the population would be able to ignore their selfish principles however as we become a society which becomes more dependent on the use of the internet it can be seen that the hate expressed by these extremist groups is growing quite substantially. Websites and forums that encourage this form of behaviour are becoming more commonplace within the internet and the amount of attention that these sites are obtaining is also quite disturbing. One particular organization which I found to be most concerning was the Australia First Party (AFP) which up until recently I had not been aware of. Although the site is portrayed as patriotic and is said to be in the best interests of the Australian public there are still certain aspects which are seen to blur the lines between patriotism and extremism.

The AFP is based on eight rules which focuses on the abolition of globalisation and multiculturalism within Australian as well as other notions such as the preservation of traditional family values. Granted this organisation is nowhere near as racially motivated as extremist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan however their views and opinions are still seen to be significantly one sided, especially when issues concern other cultures. An example of this cultural bias would be the Cronulla Riots that occured in Sydney a couple of years back. Posted on the site is a detailed account of the incident and praise is given to the many Australians that turned up to fight back against the Lebanese community, however no mention is given regarding the wild uncontrolled violence that occured on other innocent Lebanese. Thus reinforcing just how one sided this organisation is.

So is the AFP party an extremist group? Surely an organization that actually encourages violence against anyone, let alone other cultures, can surely be described as an extremist group. Just because an organisation tries to sugar coat its hate with words of patriotism does not change that fact. Individuals should be more aware to ensure that they do not fall into the decieving web that these organisations weave and need to be made more aware of the threat these organisations can pose on culturalism and our way of life.