Who's family values?

That's the name of a video for elementary school children that's causing an uproar in a small town in New Jersey called Evesham Township.

Now, I haven't seen the video myself, but colleagues have. The video shows all types of families -- single parent households, grandparents raising children, biracial couples, couples with adopted children -- and yes, same sex couples with children. The message is that all families have value. The school system in Evesham uses it to teach tolerance and respect for diversity.

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Several hundred parents showed up at a community meeting this week to debate whether the video should be used. One press report quoted a woman as screaming, "they're 8 years old. They don't need to see homosexual people in the classroom." My colleagues who were there were stunned by the intolerant and hateful comments, including pseudo-religious arguments.

One reports sharing the controversy with his eight year old son. He said something like, "I guess they didn't get the point of the movie, Dad."

Indeed, they did not.

Jim Wallis in an article today on sojo.net talking about the minimum wage wrote, "That's our foundation: God hates inequality."

All inequality. That's what this video is trying to teach children. True family values means recognizing that all families have value.

Or as it says in both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Scriptures, "love your neighbor as yourself." All of your neighbors. Even in little towns in New Jersey.