Scary
So Domino's pizza founder Thomas Monaghan is building a town, Ave Maria, in Florida, which will be governed by strict Catholic law. There will be no pornography, abortions, and birth control, among other "sinful" things. Other than the above, I haven't seen a list of rules for this town or an explanation as to how they'll enforce them, besides regulating businesses. You've got to figure that if they want a town ruled by strict Catholicism, then they'd need a whole litany of "Do Nots"...like requiring people to go to confession (which, incidently, hardly any of the Catholics I know do), no premarital sex, no blasphemy, etc... I'm not sure how that would be enforced and, in fact, I'm not sure it could be....seems to me a lot of that would be unconstitutional. And would they restrict nonCatholics from living there??? That's also unconstitutional.
I just got done reading Bentley Little's book, The Association. It's about this couple who moves into a gated community and they come to find out that their Homeowner's Association is run by a sadistic group of nonhumans (demons or what?), who run the community with a yellowpages size book of unbelievable rules....like:
No minorities are allowed to live in the neighborhood.
No pets allowed.
No business work to be done on premises.
No personal photos or mementos to be displayed in home.
Only green string can be used to tie plants in gardens.
Cars must be facing the same direction when parked in driveway.
etc, etc..
Of course, the Association will kill your pet if you have one...and kidnap and kill your minority friend who happens to be visiting. And all the houses contain surveillance cameras so the Association can videotape you in your own home and on your own toilet. But anyways...you get the gist of it. Anyways, I doubt that will be the case in Ave Maria, but the whole idea really rubs me the wrong way. And what bothers me just as much and maybe even more is Gov. Jeb Bush's wholehearted endorsement of the town. I'd like to invoke a little separation of church and state, please.
posted by Melissa @ 11:52 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I hope that new town in Florida has a plan to prevent people from escaping as they try to exercise some freedoms. Otherwise, I can see the town disappearing oh, say sometime between the first and second generation of residents.
Personally, I'm really glad that they are building this place. I always think it's great when idiots make themselves readily identifiable. Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-Catholic. Down here in Louisiana there are probably more Catholics than anywhere else and almost everyone is an honorary Catholic when it comes to holidays like Mardi Gras and St. Patrick's day.
This is a stupid idea because I think that the best way to ensure that you won't have an innovative and tolerant society is to fill it with people who are just alike. What makes America a really great place, in my opinion, is that it constantly gets an infusion of folks from other places who bring fresh ways of thinking and new ways of doing things with them when they come.
So, as far as I'm concerned, they can and should build their little religious community and I hope they'll really do us a favor and start their very own Inquisition version 2.0 as long as it's all done to and by people who chose to move there.
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