The Washington Post again picks up the story of gay Oklahoma teenager Michael Shackelford, for good reason: after the Post profiled him earlier this year (see here and here), Fred Phelps hate-filled crew decided to picket Michael's church, former high school, and (although not mentioned in the article) another church in the Sand Springs area that tries to "convert" gay people to heterosexuality.

Yes, they picketed a conservative evangelical "ex-gay" ministry. Phelps' bunch believes that gay people were created solely to burn in hell, so any church that does anything but attack them is aligned with Satan.

No, I'm not kidding.

People in Sand Springs may not like homosexuality or want to see it, but when Phelps and his crew of demons started to attack Michael, they closed ranks. If Michael is a problem, they said, he's our problem, thankyouverymuch.

Sometimes I think people in urban areas don't quite understand the power that coming out of the closet has in smaller places. The TV preachers keep running the video of leather parades for a reason - until you know a gay person, they can make you believe that's what all gay people are really like. Looking someone in the eye and seeing that he's not rebelling, not deluded, and not lying to you - well, who are you going to believe? A TV preacher who made $50 million last year misinterpreting the Bible for you, or your own lying eyes and heart?

Godspeed to that boy, I'm telling you. He'll know far more of heaven than any member of Westboro Baptist Church ever will.

Update: Also see MetaFilter and Pandagon.