The 'alt-right': 7 dodgy beliefs that indicate you're one of them

Milo Yiannopoulos, who is seen as a figure on the 'alt-right'.Facebook

This week, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) voted to condemn the white nationalist 'alt-right' movement, a day after failure to put a similar motion to the vote caused consternation and condemnation.

The eventual decision, which was met with a standing ovation as about 5,000 delegates or 'messengers' voted at their annual convention, exposed divisions within the SBC.

It also drew attention to the alt-right. So what is it and what do those in it believe?

The 'alternative right' is an unofficial, loose group of people on the far-right of largely American politics, though the 'movement' also exists, to a lesser extent, in Canada and Europe.

The term 'alt-right' was first used from 2008 onwards, and in 2010 the white supremacist Richard Spencer adopted it to define a movement centred on so-called white nationalism.

The term really came to the fore during the 2016 US presidential contest, and the alt-right movement is credited with helping to get Donald Trump elected. The White House 'chief strategist' Stephen Bannon, who used to edit the right-wing news outlet Breitbart, is associated with the alt-right, as is the gay libertarian 'journalist' Milo Yiannopoulos.

So how might you know whether you are part of the 'alt-right'?

1. If you lie awake at night thinking the Republican Party is too left-wing.

2. If you think traditional conservatism is too 'mainstream'.

3. If you believe in white supremacy.

4. If you love Israel, because it's a beacon of Western democracy in the Middle East, but have a problem with 'the Jews'.

5. If you hate feminism.

6. If you think the world started going to hell with the arrival of multi-culturalism.

7. If you reject the American democratic ideal that all should have equality under the law regardless of creed, gender, ethnic origin or race.