David S. Meyer
I'm a professor of sociology and political science at the University of California, Irvine. I've been thinking, and writing about, protest politics for almost ever. This site offers comments on contemporary events, informed (I hope) by knowing something about history and about the academic study of social movements.
Tag Archives: Westboro
More on the Phelps Family (Not much, I hope)
At Slate, David Weigel reports that Michael Moore lampooned the Phelps Family and the Westboro Church nearly fifteen years ago, posting a video. He also notes that Sarah Palin is angry about the Court’s decision, and has attacked it on … Continue reading
The Phelps Family and the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court ruled today that vicious anti-gay rhetoric, deployed at unrelated events, was Constitutionally protected (8-1, Justice Alito dissenting). The tiny Westboro church, comprised mostly of Pastor Fred Phelps and his family, pickets military funerals and other public occasions, … Continue reading
Phelps Family Flop? Not quite.
Elizabeth Edwards’s funeral in Raleigh, North Carolina, was another occasion for the Westboro Church (read: Fred Phelps and family) to get attention. As discussed here, the tiny hyperconservative church has succeeded in gaining national attention by picketing military funerals and … Continue reading
More on Westboro
If you can find a remotely credible source that credits Westboro Baptist Church with even a hundred members, you’re a more energetic or skilled researcher than I am. When Pastor Phelps describes his congregation as family, he’s not really stretching … Continue reading
Intolerance of Intolerance
What if your cause doesn’t have many supporters? Smaller numbers have to take on more extreme tactics or make more outlandish claims in order to win the kind of attention that those large demonstrations on the Washington mall get. A … Continue reading
