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Tom Monaghan is the founder of Domino's Pizza. His entrepreneurial expertise has made him a very wealthy man. His faith has made him a very conservative Roman Catholic.
There may be a connection between the two, but what I find far more interesting is Mr. Monaghan's plans to build an entire new town in Florida, from the bottom up. There are plans for 11,000 new homes, a Catholic university and a huge cathedral smack dab in the center. The town will be called Ave Maria which sounds, even to this Protestant, lovely.
Not surprisingly, he plans on having the town run on conservative principles, both political and theological, including, but certainly not limited to, a prohibition against pharmacies selling contraceptives, the right of Mr. Monaghan to censor cable movies for in-home viewing and, of course, no liberal ideas, be they ecclesiastical, cultural or involving any unusual, offensive football formations.
Ave Maria, the city, not the lady, is doomed, of course. Mr. Monaghan has failed, it appears, to take into consideration the inability of we Christians, be we Catholics or "otherics," to manage to get along with each other in our own little parishes let alone an entire city.
There may be a connection between the two, but what I find far more interesting is Mr. Monaghan's plans to build an entire new town in Florida, from the bottom up. There are plans for 11,000 new homes, a Catholic university and a huge cathedral smack dab in the center. The town will be called Ave Maria which sounds, even to this Protestant, lovely.
Not surprisingly, he plans on having the town run on conservative principles, both political and theological, including, but certainly not limited to, a prohibition against pharmacies selling contraceptives, the right of Mr. Monaghan to censor cable movies for in-home viewing and, of course, no liberal ideas, be they ecclesiastical, cultural or involving any unusual, offensive football formations.
Ave Maria, the city, not the lady, is doomed, of course. Mr. Monaghan has failed, it appears, to take into consideration the inability of we Christians, be we Catholics or "otherics," to manage to get along with each other in our own little parishes let alone an entire city.
Parishioners are always parting ways with priest or pastor over some terribly controversial new practice like the abomination of holding hands while reciting the Lord's Prayer or, horror upon horror, actually greeting one's neighbor in the pew in the name of our founder.
Nevertheless, I am enough of an idealist to wish the Big Domino good luck and even to imagine similar endeavors. For instance, we Lutherans could establish a similar township nearby. It might be named Lake Wobegon South and filled with rosy-cheeked and well-rounded snowbirds from Minnesota, Wisconsin and those other climate-challenged states that seem to have more than a fair share of Luther's followers.
There would be a pretty good high school football team named, perhaps, after one of our favorite saints.
I can see the headlines now: "St. Paul crushes Ave Maria" or conversely "Ave Maria runs over St. Paul."
In any case, the Lutherans would have covenants controlling social behavior just like the Catholics down the road.
Nevertheless, I am enough of an idealist to wish the Big Domino good luck and even to imagine similar endeavors. For instance, we Lutherans could establish a similar township nearby. It might be named Lake Wobegon South and filled with rosy-cheeked and well-rounded snowbirds from Minnesota, Wisconsin and those other climate-challenged states that seem to have more than a fair share of Luther's followers.
There would be a pretty good high school football team named, perhaps, after one of our favorite saints.
I can see the headlines now: "St. Paul crushes Ave Maria" or conversely "Ave Maria runs over St. Paul."
In any case, the Lutherans would have covenants controlling social behavior just like the Catholics down the road.
Certainly the color of houses will be an issue. One would suspect an edict against the more offensive hues of beige. I assume contraceptives would be sold within the city limits although they might need accompanying explanations for their use.
Audible laughter would have to be sanctioned of course, probably by the same committee responsible for monitoring parental bragging overage.
Not to be outdone, I can easily imagine the Baptists and Methodists developing their own cities. The Methodists would probably have fewer rules than the Lutherans, but I suspect there would be required attendance at the Saturday evening campfires. Judging from recent history, the Baptists may have more difficulty forming a cohesive unit. Indeed, one could fairly expect their envisioned town of, say, 10,000 residents, could quickly devolve into 10,000 separate towns.
An all-Republican city? That's certainly within the realm of possibility. Shortly after organizing, they could begin depleting the town coffers, run up a huge community debt and announce significant tax-breaks for anyone who lives in a house of 20,000 square feet or larger.
Democrats might dream of a similar living situation, but would probably run into trouble with the first election of town officers, since no one would stand a chance of winning.
Audible laughter would have to be sanctioned of course, probably by the same committee responsible for monitoring parental bragging overage.
Not to be outdone, I can easily imagine the Baptists and Methodists developing their own cities. The Methodists would probably have fewer rules than the Lutherans, but I suspect there would be required attendance at the Saturday evening campfires. Judging from recent history, the Baptists may have more difficulty forming a cohesive unit. Indeed, one could fairly expect their envisioned town of, say, 10,000 residents, could quickly devolve into 10,000 separate towns.
An all-Republican city? That's certainly within the realm of possibility. Shortly after organizing, they could begin depleting the town coffers, run up a huge community debt and announce significant tax-breaks for anyone who lives in a house of 20,000 square feet or larger.
Democrats might dream of a similar living situation, but would probably run into trouble with the first election of town officers, since no one would stand a chance of winning.
Thinking of politicians of any stripe, there could be a neighboring municipality peopled only by ex-politicians. The amount of hot air expended could power every other neighboring village and all of Iceland as well. Of course, something would have to be done about the inordinate amounts of bull**** that would continually be in production.
So, as with Mr. Monaghan, I, too, like the idea of living only with people who think just like me.
There could be true harmony among the inhabitants, a commonality of vision, unanimity of opinion and utter accord on every community action. It would be Heaven on Earth. The only drawback that I can see is that there will be room for just one resident at a time.
View Rich Mayfield's website at www.christianagnostic.com. "Reconstructing Christianity" My new book of days ... is available at Barnes and Noble, Amazon or your favorite bookstore.
So, as with Mr. Monaghan, I, too, like the idea of living only with people who think just like me.
There could be true harmony among the inhabitants, a commonality of vision, unanimity of opinion and utter accord on every community action. It would be Heaven on Earth. The only drawback that I can see is that there will be room for just one resident at a time.
View Rich Mayfield's website at www.christianagnostic.com. "Reconstructing Christianity" My new book of days ... is available at Barnes and Noble, Amazon or your favorite bookstore.
