By Becky Garrison

In this video, Joseph Ward , Director of Believe Out Loud, and I explore how reality TV shows like All-American Muslim and the growing support for LGBT families signify a shifting toward a more radically inclusive form of “family values.”

As part of our conversation, we talk about the need to vote for progressive candidates. This is by no means a support for those policies advanced by the Obama administration, such as the signing of the National Defense Authorization Act. During the 2008 election, I cautioned against putting one’s hope into a particular candidate because a quick run-through of the politics enacted during any president’s term reveals that their rhetoric fell short of their results once they were in office and reality set in.  But following a year where LGBT voices have taken center stage, I ask those who champion LGBT rights to reflect the legislative gains made in areas like marriage equality and LGBT global rights that will be lost should the religious right assume control of the White House.

However, as I noted in the video, the real change happens at a more grassroots level. In my travels, I’ve observed increasing numbers of radically inclusive faith communities that celebrate the gifts that women, people of color and LGBT folks bring to these gatherings. While the focus of my latest book was about Episcopal churches, the lessons I gleaned here could be applied to any group who strives to be more welcoming of those outside of their comfort zone. So I’d like to invite any interested parties to consider joining me for a webinar on January 17th at 8pm so we can explore what it might like look when we shift from talking about radical inclusion to implementing these principles in practice.

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Image courtesy of Becky Garrison