Jesus Land, Under Construction

[Dr Ron]

From The Democratic Daily:
http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=2097


Is this a warning of what will happen if the religious right takes over? Thomas Monaghan, founder of Dominos Pizza, is building a city in southwest Florida which he intends to be governed by strict Roman Catholic principles. The town is being built around Ave Maria University, the first catholic university to be built in the United States in 40 years. Both the college, being built by Monaghan, as well as the city, are to open next year about 25 miles east of Naples, Florida. Monaghan says it is “God’s Will” that this be built.

Managhan says that stores won’t be allowed to sell pornographic magazines, pharmacies won’t be allowed to sell condoms or birth control pills, and cable television won’t be allowed to carry X-rated channels. “I believe all of history is just one big battle between good and evil. I don’t want to be on the sidelines,” said Monaghan in a recent interview.

The ACLU says these restrictions are unconstitutional and plan lawsuits. They note that there are religiously homogenous communities across the country but none can “wield governmental power along the lines of religious principle.”

(Story is mentioned in online sources, but above written based upon local media which is more detailed due to Monaghan’s Michigan connection).

[SaveElmer]

1. If they want to live in a theocracy....

Just move to the Vatican!!!

[Dr Ron]

3. From the title, I thought you were going to say. . .

move to Iran (or other similar countries).

[AlCzervik]

7. oh i bet it's gonna be a really well armed theocracy, kind of like a

catholic militia group.

[SaveElmer]

24. They will overpopulate themselves...

If they are anything like Catholics used to be...

Every sperm is sacred!!!

[Missy M]

2. The way to improve his city would be NOT ALLOWING...

DOMINO PIZZA to be sold.

[Dr Ron]

5. Agreed, Pappa John's is much better among the chains n/t

[AlCzervik]

37. John Schnatter the founder is also a republican

[Dr Ron]

39. That by itself doesn't bother me

Just being a Republican isn't the same as actively pushing the agenda of the religious right (although this is becomming less and less the case).

Besides, I like Papa John's pizza much better than Dominos.

[FlaGranny]

4. It wouldn't bother me

if all religious ultraconservatives developed their own restrictive communities and left the rest of us alone. Maybe it would be a good thing. Then again, maybe not. They'd never leave the rest of us alone.

Edit: Didn't someone already do that? Back in 1622 I think it was.

[Warpy]

21. There has been a long and sorrowful history of religious sects

trying to recreate some sort of paradise on earth by creating villages restricted to like minded believers following restrictive religious laws.

All they ever managed to recreate was hell.

[Bob3]

6. And right across from the town line will be a topless bar, a

pharmacy that will sell condoms and birth control pills, a book/video store with a staggering porn selection and just for good measure a Liquor store, a beer distributor and a McDonald's and a seven-eleven. And they will all do land office business since aside from telling people what to do, the overt look at me and see how much I love Jesus crowd are best at being compete hypocrites.

on edit forgot a word.

[Arkansas Granny]

30. And those stores will be flooded with business, day and night.

And guess where 90% of their business will come from.

[RagingInMiami]

8. But why Florida?

Why not Utah, thousands of miles away from me?

[FlaGranny]

10. Maybe it will be

a snowbird theocracy?

[meganmonkey]

14. I'm just glad they are finally leaving Ann Arbor!

Sanctimonious asswipes!!!

Good riddance!

(Sorry, man, that you're getting stuck with 'em :shrug:)

[annarbor]

36. Amen!

Monahan has finally left Ann Arbor!
And he took that piece-of-shit law school with him (Ave Maria School of Law).

Look out Florida. Here comes Jim Jones and Company :)

Ann Arbor

[Gildor Inglorion]

19. Utah? Good heavens! The Saints would storm the ramparts

and DESTROY a Roman Catholic community in their midst.

[RagingInMiami]

31. Oh, that's right

They believe their Jesus Christ is better than the Catholic's Jesus Christ.

Jesus. :eyes:

[TomInTib]

9. Our own little Vatican....

Can you imagine being a kid growing up in this environment?

[MadMaddie]

11. Jim Jones Jonestown and the Peoples Temple anyone...??

These religious nutcases always start out the same...they are going to build a utopia...

but they always seem to spiral into insanity and murder of their followers...

http://www.cnn.com/US/9811/18/jonestown.anniv.01/


Branch Dividians....
The Ca cult......

[RaleighNCDUer]

16. I can just see it. In twenty years the phrase won't be 'drink the koolaid'

but "eat the pizza".

[MadMaddie]

18. I can see it now....

[bluemarkers]

12. didn't the Puritans try this?

Only to have the colony fall apart? They really weren't a good thing for the New World.

Maybe we will get to see a mini Inquisition. That would be fun.


nuts that is what this is

[maxrandb]

13. Lousy Cookie Cutter Pizza Anyway

Now I have a reason, other than the fact that their pizza sucks :puke: not to waste my money at Dominos.

Give me a local mom and pop pizza parlor anyday.

[MadMaddie]

15. Yea, when we found out who owned it...

stopped ordering it....

[maxrandb]

25. Not to get off track here

But I'll pay an extra buck or two to get good pizza. Dominos and Pizza Rut are the Wal-marts of pizza parlors.

[MadMaddie]

26. Same here.....

MMMMM....good pizza sounds good kinda tasty right now.....

[izzie]

17. People will do anything to make money

And I am sure their are people who will pay big to be in on the ground floor. One likes to be first on the no-brain list.My father always said their were people who used that thing on their neck for nothing but to pass other peoples thoughts in and out of. Back to the Middle Ages we go.

[Fridays Child]

20. It'll be a hotbed of repressed libidos...

...and a breeding ground for sex-related violence.

[Nutmegger]

22. Roman Catholic principles???

What are they going to do? Declare that town "abortion-free"???

Yeah, like that will pass. Oh wait, I forgot about A-LIE-TOE.:eyes:

Carry on....

[lectrobyte]

23. But if there aren't temptations from Satan, then aren't you defeating

the point of Christianity? My Baptist upbringing usually included at least one sermon per month featuring a sinner who (fill in the blanks of the wost thing you can think of here) and overcame it to become a born-again lamb of God. They always seemed to dwell on the drinkin' swearin' fornicatin' etc. of the "before" picture to an almost unhealthy degree, too.

[liberal N proud]

27. What is Fletch lives for 200

[obreaslan]

28. I guess this could be their entertainment....

[Initech]

29. I'm at a loss for words here.

For one thing - you can guarantee that I'll never order a Domino's Pizza again!

Two - this is absolutely mind boggling. Why do these people want to live in a theocracy? They should just move to the UAE!

[jean]

32. Here's the full (short) article from Newsweek - - -

Halfway to Heaven

A Catholic millionaire's dream town draws fire.

By Susannah Meadows
Newsweek


Feb. 27, 2006 issue - The 5,000-acre tomato field in southwestern Florida sure doesn't look like heaven. Bulldozers scrape the land flat while clusters of Porta Pottis signal an undeniable earthiness. But soon a massive cathedral will rise from this barren spot. Reaching 100 feet in the air behind a 65-foot crucifix, the Oratory will anchor Ave Maria, a whole new town and Roman Catholic university 30 miles east of Naples. Ground was officially broken last week, and the plan is to build 11,000 homes—likely drawing families who already hold the church at the center of their lives.

For Tom Monaghan, the devout Catholic who founded Domino's Pizza and is now bankrolling most of the initial $400 million cost of the project, Ave Maria is the culmination of a lifetime devoted to spreading his own strict interpretation of Catholicism. Though he says nonbelievers are welcome, Monaghan clearly wants the community to embody his conservative values. He controls all the commercial real estate in town (along with his developing partner, Barron Collier Cos.) and is asking pharmacies not to carry contraceptives. If forced to choose between two otherwise comparable drugstores, Barron Collier would favor the one that honored that request, says its president and CEO, Paul Marinelli. Discussing his life as a millionaire Catholic who puts his money where his faith is, Monaghan says: "I believe all of history is just one big battle between good and evil. I don't want to be on the sidelines."

The ACLU of Florida is worried about how he's playing the game. "It is completely naive to think this first attempt will be their last," says executive director Howard Simon. Armed with a 1946 Supreme Court opinion that "ownership does not always mean absolute dominion," Simon will be watching Ave Maria for any signs of Monaghan's request's becoming a demand. Planned Parenthood is similarly alarmed. So far, Naples Community Hospital, which plans to open a clinic in Ave Maria Town, says it will not prescribe any birth control to students. Will others be able to get the pill? "For the general public, the answer is probably yes, but not definitely yes," says hospital point man Edgardo Tenreiro. The Florida attorney general's office says the issue of limiting access will likely have to be worked out in court. Barron Collier and Monaghan say they're following Florida law.

Raised by nuns in orphanages, Monaghan, 68, has tried to franchise his religious views in the past, creating elementary schools, a small college, Catholic radio stations and, in 2000, a Catholic law school. While many of his initiatives have foundered, the law school, with 88 percent of its most recent class passing the Michigan bar, is off to a strong start. Early signs suggest the new Ave Maria complex, his final and most ambitious project, might also work out. The developers are close to leasing 60 percent of the commercial space (no pharmacists yet), says project manager Blake Gable, and they have received some 7,000 inquiries from people interested in buying homes, which will go for less than the half-million median price in nearby Naples. In an area of strip malls and bad traffic, Ave Maria's communal design—with shops within walking distance to the homes—has civic appeal. "The general buzz is that the university and town are going to be a spark plug for massive development in that area," says Michael Reagen, president of the Naples Chamber of Commerce. Even the pope is interested. When Ave Maria Provost Father Joseph Fessio saw Benedict XVI, the first thing out of the new pontiff's mouth, according to Fessio, was, "How's Ave Maria?" He's not the only one awaiting the answer.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11434439/site/newsweek/

Additional Google links:

'Pizza pope' builds a Catholic heaven
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2058771,00.html

City of God
Tom Monaghan’s coming Catholic utopia
http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/top/features/documents/04761831.asp


Mr. Monaghan builds his dream town
http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=19522

[AX10]

33. I have never been a fan of Dominos Pizza and I will NEVER be.

With that said, does Jim Jones ring a bell? :think: :puke:

[triguy46]

34. His strident position on a woman's right to choose...

is why we haven't had a dominos pizza in our house for 26 years. What is it with Pizza? Had to do the same with Pizza Hut because of their sponsorship of Anal Cyst Boy.

[TreasonousBastard]

35. Doesn't bother me a bit...

because this sort of community has been tried time and time again over the years by all sorts of groups-- religious or not.

They usually fail, but if they are open and not cults, I don't have a problem with it. I may not want to live there, but if a community of like-minded whatevers wants to live by their own rules, who am I to say no if they don't bother anyone. We're not talking cult here.

BTW Orthodox Jews have been setting up communities like this for years in Brooklyn, Monsey NY, and other places. Aside from some predictable small culture clashes, nobody has any real problem with them. Ya gots yer Bruderhofs, Old Order Amish, Shakers, and a whole bunch of communes out there, too, with few real problems.

[Dr Ron]

38. This is different with respect to the laws

Different groups can live together in a city, but it is a different matter to have the legal ability to say, for example, that the local pharmacy can't sell contraceptives.

[TreasonousBastard]

43. Still not a problem if the city is set up...

by everyone who agrees-- it's simply another local community and no one who has a problem with it would be displaced.

Of course there can be problems, as the Kerias Joel school district had. A major court case over sepaation of church and state that wasn't nearly as easy to define as most of us would like to have it. You ain't ever gonna open a rib joint or get pork fried rice up there, either.

Anyway, if they are setting up a new community out of whole cloth, they can pretty much do what they want with it. That's the flip side of democracy-- they can't impose their rules on us, but neither can we impose our rules on them. If anyone has a problem with that, go out and destroy all those gated community rules nazis while you're at it. (Which might not be such a bad idea...)

[Cats Against Frist]

40. All of history is one big battle between modernity and fundamentalism

When can we give these fucking crazies their own country?

[derby378]

41. Zion, Illinois was a theocracy...

...under John Alexander Dowie and his successor, Wilbur Glenn Voliva, who was an apostle of the "Flat Earth" theory and outlawed the possession of globes in Zion.

[Obamarama]

42. OMG...Monoghan is building Pleasantville

I think Tom has inhaled too much incense.