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New Florida town would restrict abortion


SevenSeasJim

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This sound like something many of you would enjoy :wink:

New Florida town would restrict abortion

CNN

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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So basically Thomas S. Monaghan is setting up a cult. I guess he's providing the new promised land, so anybody who wants to get out of Babylon should move to Ave Maria.

I wonder if Dominoes will be the only Pizza joint in town.

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I wonder if Dominoes will be the only Pizza joint in town.

:D!

And wanting to build the world's biggest crucifix... ouch. I've always thought of them as murder-porn. Christians never used crucifixes until the 4th century; even when they were introduced, they were so abstract that you only only ever see Jesus smiling on them. Sick, like Mel Gibson's Passion sick, imo.

Paging timouse... (I think you've met this guy in person, haven't you?).

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YES!!!...finally a new town with this mentality. I know there are other such places but a brand new one I could move to and not feel like an outsider.

WHO'S COMING WITH ME???!

and I mean lets face it if there's no porn then really who need birth control. :crazy:

fingers crossed it gets built.

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That's some of the most terrible news I've read this week, imo. I wonder how long before they burn some witches.

I read an article a couple years ago on how Bush (pres) wanted to ban abortion. The article was about a woman. She brought up a fairly good point: What the hell right do old men have to say anything about a woman's body. She was saying this as there are some cases where an abortion is the only way for a woman to live. I don't know specifics 'cause it was a while ago but it pisses me off.

I'll stop now before I piss me and perhaps others off with my ranting.

(Whoopie) Goldberg raised a wire coat hanger -- a symbol of illegal abortions in the days before the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe vs. Wade ruling recognizing abortion rights -- and told the crowd, "We are one vote away from going back to this!"

"I can remember when abortion was just as common as it is now, but it killed a lot of women," (Dorothy) Smith said.

I'm assuming this town is supposed to be good but all I see is promotion of unsafe sex and loss of freedom.

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