or
Join Now!
|
|
Home/Government/Politics
|
| Forum |
Ask A Question |
Question Board |
FAQs |
Search |
Return to Question Board
| Question Details |
Asked By |
Asked On |
| Catholic town |
Itsdb |
03/02/06 |
New Florida town looks to ban abortions, pornography and contraceptives
By Brian Skoloff
ASSOCIATED PRESS
10:46 a.m. March 1, 2006
NAPLES, Fla. – If Domino's Pizza founder Thomas S. Monaghan has his way, a new town being built in Florida will be governed according to strict Roman Catholic principles, with no place to get an abortion, pornography or birth control.
The pizza magnate is bankrolling the project with at least $250 million and calls it “God's will.”
Civil libertarians say the plan is unconstitutional and are threatening to sue.
The town of Ave Maria is being constructed around Ave Maria University, the first Catholic university to be built in the United States in about 40 years. Both are set to open next year about 25 miles east of Naples in southwestern Florida.
The town and the university, developed in partnership with the Barron Collier Co., an agricultural and real estate business, will be set on 5,000 acres with a European-inspired town center, a massive church and what planners call the largest crucifix in the nation, at nearly 65 feet tall. Monaghan envisions 11,000 homes and 20,000 residents.
During a speech last year at a Catholic men's gathering in Boston, Monaghan said that in his community, stores will not sell pornographic magazines, pharmacies will not carry condoms or birth control pills, and cable television will have no X-rated channels.
Homebuyers in Ave Maria will own their property outright. But Monaghan and Barron Collier will control all commercial real estate in the town, meaning they could insert provisions in leases to restrict the sale of certain items.
“I believe all of history is just one big battle between good and evil. I don't want to be on the sidelines,” Monaghan, who sold Domino's Pizza in 1998 to devote himself to doing good works, said in a recent Newsweek interview.
Robert Falls, a spokesman for the project, said Tuesday that attorneys are still reviewing the legal issues and that Monaghan had no comment in the meantime.
“If they attempt to do what he apparently wants to do, the people of Naples and Collier County, Florida, are in for a whole series of legal and constitutional problems and a lot of litigation indefinitely into the future,” warned Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.
Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist said it will be up to the courts to decide the legalities of the plan. “The community has the right to provide a wholesome environment,” he said. “If someone disagrees, they have the right to go to court and present facts before a judge.”
Gov. Jeb Bush, at the site's groundbreaking earlier this month, lauded the development as a new kind of town where faith and freedom will merge to create a community of like-minded citizens. Bush, a convert to Catholicism, did not speak specifically to the proposed restrictions.
“While the governor does not personally believe in abortion or pornography, the town, and any restrictions they may place on businesses choosing to locate there, must comply with the laws and constitution of the state and federal governments,” Russell Schweiss, a spokesman for the governor, said Tuesday.
Frances Kissling, president of the liberal Washington-based Catholics for a Free Choice, likened Monaghan's concept to Islamic fundamentalism.
“This is un-American,” Kissling said. “I don't think in a democratic society you can have a legally organized township that will seek to have any kind of public service whatsoever and try to restrict the constitutional rights of citizens.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Good idea?
Constitutionally sound or "un-American?"
Like "Islamic fundamentalism" or free exercise of religion?
Other thoughts or comments? |
Clarification/Follow-up by excon on 03/02/06 4:31 pm:
Hello again, Its:
>>>I think you should also be free to build a city to your liking - as long as the 'fun' is legal.<<<
I got it. I really do. You point out EXACTLY where the hypocrisy from your side begins. We can build a free city, and you can’t.
You see, in the city I want to build, you're already telling me that I need to adhere to YOUR moral codes, which you've made into law, but in your city, you don’t have to adhere to MY moral codes, which are mirrored in the Constitution.
In your town, you’ll say words like "I'm free", which of course, you don't mean at all, because, the only reason everyone in your city will behave, is because they are being WATCHED all the time to make sure they are being "free".
However, I wouldn't dream of imposing MY restrictions (which happen to be the same restrictions the Constitution imposes) upon YOUR city. Go ahead, be pious and boring if you want to, but what's good for the goose, is good for the gander. Most fundamentalists think it should be their way or the highway.
That’s hypocrisy, pure and simple. In my town, when we say we’re free, we won’t be lying.
excon
Clarification/Follow-up by ETWolverine on 03/02/06 5:33 pm:
Excon,
I don't see anything in the article above that states that people wouldn't be able to watch porn in their own homes. They would just have to go elsewhere to buy it.
Also, we are not talking about a homeowners' association. We're talking about the owner of the property making decisions of who he will lease to. There's nothing illegal about that.
Elliot Clarification/Follow-up by Itsdb on 03/02/06 6:34 pm:
ex, you really should know better than to interpret my brief comment with such far-reaching and far-fetched abandon.
Simply put, should everything be legal? Surely not I hope you'd say. That would be anarchy wouldn't it? Laws are necessary, like it or not, and breaking the law has consequences, like it or not. So feel free to build your city however you'd like, you just might want to build it in a place that doesn't have laws you restricting your 'fun' or there most likely will be consequences. It's just a fact, and it has nothing to do with me imposing my morals on you.
Wherever I go I'm bound by the laws, and if I choose to say move into The Woodlands, I'd be agreeing to their covenant. If I don't like it, I won't move in (not that I'd ever have that kind of money). If folks don't like the standards of "Ave Maria" they don't have to live or do business there, they can go somewhere more to their liking - that's freedom, too.
Steve
P.S. I have no problem with this concept - but I never said I'd want to live there. Trust me, I don't :)
|
| |
|
Your Options |
Additional Options are only visible when you login! !
|
|
|
|
