Harry Krause wrote:
New Florida town would restrict abortion
Domino's founder building community around Catholic university

NAPLES, Florida (AP) -- 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."

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Who says Ayatollahville can't happen here?

Nice job. Religious as well as political. With spring trraining
underway in AZ, FLA, etc- I guess we need to decide whether that scores
only a double or a two run homer. :-)