I talked to my mom last night, who has been somewhat uncomfortable with my belief that the Bible is literally true. We have a very close relationship, and I've been trying to explain to her exactly what Christians do and don't actually believe, as opposed to the media stereotypes which (apart from me) are her main exposure to "biblical Christianity."

She was distressed that a college play in St. Louis (my hometown, where my folks still live) about Matthew Shepard was being picketed by "a church group from Topeka."

"Wait a second," I said, "let me guess. This is Fred Phelps' group."

For those of you who are not familiar with the "Reverend" Phelps, he is the originator of "God Hates Fags," and led protests at Shepherd's funeral, carrying signs saying things like "Burn in Hell Matthew Shepard." After the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia, his group handed out flyers saying "The 7 (sic) are in Hell!" and laying out "The Roster of the Damned, who entered Hell Feb. 1, 2003."

It's important to note that Phelps is entirely a media creation. He's an obscure moron who has no clue about biblical Christianity, but who is endlessly featured on television news programs because he says idiotic, controversial things (in news parliance, "he's great copy"), and because he supplies the media with the opportunity to put a negative face on "Christianity." In fact, Phelps' theology is unrecognizable as any historic form of biblical Christianity, and he represents a "church" of a couple of dozen people, almost all of whom are directly related to him (he has 13 children and 52 grandchildren).

"Let me see," my mom said, scanning the Post-Dispach article she had in front of her. "Yes, there it is, 'Rev. Fred Phelps.'"

"Don't worry, Mom," I said. "Fred Phelps is an idiot. I am what the world would call a 'fundamentalist' Christian. Most of my friends would be called 'fundamentalist Christians.' And I've never met one, singe fundamentalist Christian who thinks that Fred Phelps is anything more than an inbred moron. He's more of a cult leader than anything else. Just the fact that I knew exactly who you were talking about without having heard anything else about it should show you that this guy sticks out like a sore thumb."

She seemed greatly relieved that I did not support Phelps. I did point out to her that God makes His view of homosexuality abundantly clear and that His view is the only one that counts. But I shared with her that biblically the Christian's job is to reach out in love and preach the gospel to a homosexual, calling him to repentance and faith. The Christian's duty is not to stand outside the funeral of a homosexual gleefully announcing that the deceased is now "burning in hell."

Fred Phelps is going to have a lot to answer for when he stands before Christ at the judgement. If he thinks its hot where Matthew Sheperd is, he is going to be absolutely horrified at the temperature in the place where those who have practiced abominations in Christ's name go.