Reuters and numerous blogs today announced the public formation of the Freedom Federation, a coalition of long-time members of the religious-right Arlington Group including the ex-gay member ministries of Exodus International.

According to Vision America and Liberty Counsel (via Ex-Gay Watch), the federation offers a “Declaration of American Values” including:

  • freedom from contraception, phrased as “right to life”
  • freedom from same-sex marriage and single parenting
  • freedom from parental responsibility laws that protect children, phrased as “parental rights”
  • freedom from non-evangelical religious faiths, phrased as “religious liberty [for conservative Christians]”
  • freedom from undefined “indecency”
  • freedom to use one’s property in ways that harm neighbors and community, phrased as “the right to property”
  • freedom from international obligations and agreements, phrased as “national sovereignty”

The federation declares war against the legality of single-parent families as well as same-sex parents and their children. The federation does this by declaring as a top goal: “To secure our national interest in the institution of marriage and family by embracing the union of one man and one woman as the sole form of legitimate marriage and the proper basis of family.”

Overwhelmingly Caucasian and evangelical, the Freedom Federation defines freedom, in short, as freedom from freedom: Freedom from the beliefs, values, cultures, circumstances, and activities of people who are not conservative evangelicals and who are therefore deemed untrue Americans and untrue Christians.

This “true” freedom is sometimes called “Freedom in Christ” — which has come to be redefined by evangelical partisans as a freedom from responsibility to co-exist with liberal Christians as well as Jews, Muslims, agnostics, and others.

Coalition members include:

  • American Association of Christian Counselors
  • American Family Association
  • Americans for Prosperity
  • Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny (BOND)
  • Campaign for Working Families
  • Catholic Online
  • Concerned Women for America
  • Conservative Action Project
  • Eagle Forum
  • Exodus International
  • Faith and Action
  • Family Research Council
  • High Impact Leadership
  • Liberty Alliance Action
  • Liberty Counsel
  • Liberty University
  • Life Education and Resource Network (LEARN)
  • Marc Nuttle
  • Morning Star Ministries
  • National Clergy Council
  • National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference
  • Renewing American Leadership
  • Strang Communications
  • Teen Mania
  • The Call to Action
  • Traditional Values Coalition
  • Vision America

The Traditional Values Coalition has been identified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

In a world that is freed from the slavery of freedom, everyone can live pleasantly, without disagreement, without troublesome doubts, without temptation, without individuality. What could be better than that?