Kelly showed me the above video today – I guess it’s someone from the Westboro Baptist Church doing an anti-gay parody of Bad Romance.

I know, I know. These are crazies and wackos and, as Kelly described, “incredibly offensive.” But I think there is something brave about their offensiveness. They are actively trying to create what in my freshman seminar was called a “norm cascade,” in which societal norms and values change. For instance, the concept of human rights, which had not been previously accepted, has gained popularity around the world due to a norm cascade.

Perhaps some would argue that the norm cascade they want to create is wrong. These people preach hate and one should be absolutely tolerant toward gay people.  But those same liberals cannot claim that they are greater proponents of freedom than someone who would create this video. In fact it’s easier for the liberals because their values are not unpopular. Ideas such as the environmental movement and tolerance of homosexuality (perhaps not marriage but just in general) today make up the “hegemonic ideology” of modern America.

In many ways it is tiny conservative groups like the Westboro Baptist Church who are really trying to fight the status quo, the hegemonic ideology, who “resist” and are isolated for their beliefs. They are America’s version of the dissidents who we so idolize in other countries…