In my forthcoming book, I make the argument that there are no more communities left in America, at least not the way we’ve historically understood them. There are both good and bad aspects to this. But one of the more interesting developments to arise is that without communities to make rules about what constitutes appropriate or inappropriate behavior, much of it now gets left up to individuals and families to decide for themselves.
On the one hand, this has led to a flourishing of individual liberties and freedoms. But on the other hand, it has produced a lot of debate, consternation, and ultimately political battling over certain issues. Abortion, gun control, gay marriage, take your pick.
We saw another example of this unfold yesterday when the United States Supreme Court issued a resounding 8-1 decision in favor of the Westboro Baptist Church.
You know them. They’re the charming lot that likes to protest the funerals of dead U.S. soldiers by hurling insults, screaming sexual epithets, and waving taunting signs at the grieving mourners. I could say something snidely sarcastic like, “They’re a real class act,” but that doesn’t even begin to get at it. The church’s website is actually http://GodHatesFags.com.
It’s not enough to point out that the Westboro Baptist Church promotes a bizarre, fundamentalist interpretation of Christianity, much of which even other fundamentalists reject. More to the point, 
when speaking in public or being interviewed, Westboro members seem deeply disturbed. I have very little doubt that most of them suffer from serious mental illness. But instead of hoarding random objects, self-medicating with alcohol, or cleaning their homes obsessively, they manifest their illness through a bizarre religious sect that encourages them to engage in public behavior that is so utterly reprehensible that I have yet to encounter a single human being who does not condemn their actions in the most sincere terms, and I seriously doubt that you have either.
So why then, are they not only standing in front of the Supreme Court, but winning their case convincingly? Why are they allowed to engage in behavior so reprehensible that is universally condemned?
The obvious answer is, you know, something about that pesky First Amendment, a strictly legal interpretation. However, it’s not just law that determines people’s behavior, particularly their public behavior. Cultural norms and social norms usually play an even bigger role. For example, there are local laws against public nudity in most places, but that’s not the reason most people don’t walk 
around naked. Most people don’t do it because the public humiliation and embarrassment would be absolutely mortifying. Get rid of the law and a few people would do it, but the vast majority never will. The cultural rules are just too powerful.
The cultural interpretation of what the Westboro Baptist Church does is also pretty straightforward. To say 99% of Americans condemn their actions might actually be an undercount. They have been subject to counter demonstrations, and endless harangues and critiques. They are almost universally reviled. But, as mentioned, they are most likely mentally ill, so onward they march.
What I’m interested in is the social interpretation of why their heart wrenching behavior is allowed to continue.
A community is a form of social organization. And if there were real communities in America, they would have the authority to make rules about what kind of behavior is tolerated and what kind of behavior is not. And of course in almost none of those communities would crazy people go to cemeteries and sling hurtful insults at parents grieving the death of a child.
But there are no communities to ban those social practices. And of course the cultural rules that leave the rest of us aghast don’t seem affect them, probably because they are mentally ill. So by fault it becomes a political/legal issue.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying laws have trumped communities, or that the First Amendment destroyed them. In fact, there were many, many historical forces that led to the decline of American communities over a 200 year period. What we’re seeing today is just one of the net results.
And perhaps it shouldn’t surprise us. Beyond obvious and basic rules about funereal behavior, many communities would probably also come up with rules about what is and is not acceptable behavior for the random mentally ill people who wander American streets, often because they are homeless. But again, there are no communities, so instead we end up with vague laws about loitering and panhandling.
It’s sad enough that many American streets and parks are the defacto homes and offices of mentally ill individuals, and that the absence of community norms, standards, and rules leaves them to the mercy of the jails, half-way homes, and charities.
But God help us and them alike when they band together to form a church and set out to impose His will upon us. Alas, even the courts can’t save us then.