The Dangers of Norm Violations

When Westboro Baptist Church disrupted the funerals of soldiers killed in action during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, it was a pretty serious norm violation. What one thinks of these norm violations depends on what one thinks of the causes that justified them. As Martin Luther King wrote in his famous letter from a Birmingham jail, non-violent direct action seeks to create such a crisis that a community which is constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. And there's another danger with norm violations: They radicalize the other side.