ACLUde
Read the article here (AP – Seattle Times) about the founder of Domino’s pizza, Thomas Monaghan, and his plan to create an entire town devoted to Catholicism. The idea would be to have a town full of strictly Roman Catholic people. Monaghan would control all of the commercial real estate in town, and thus could prevent renters from selling birth control pills, condoms, and pornography as a condition of their leases.
Bear in mind this town doesn’t exist yet. People are voluntarily going to move there. It isn’t like already existing business owners will be harmed – there are none there yet as I understand it. These polices would be known before business were located there.
Someone explain to be why the ACLU should be using their resources to fight this? Is it just litigation for litigation’s sake? Someone tell me whose civil liberties are really harmed.
When I was a child, a condition of the “lease” I had at my mom’s house was that I couldn’t have pornography, let alone sell it. Where was the ACLU then?
One last thought – immediately when you cross the border from Illinois into Wisconsin on the main interstate from Chicago to Milwaukee, you are inundated with adult book stores, cheese shops, and fireworks stands. There are obviously people who are living in Illnois who wish to buy fireworks, but must go to Wisconsin to do so. Do you think there will be pharmacies and adult bookstores cropping up in a similar fashion outside of this town in Florida should the town be developed?
–CT
March 4th, 2006 at 12:54 pm
In my opinion that community will eventually be filled with Std’s if it was ever started. It’s not like the people who are volunteering do not know about condoms, birth control pills, and porn already. It’s like Mr. Monaghan is trying to start a community full of virgins because you can’t expect people who already know about such things not to use,buy, or sell such things. If that community was to ever get started Mr. Monaghan would have to get rid of mostly everything modern like television because sex is all throughout television. He would also have to get rid of the radio and magazines because they but produce information about condoms and birth control. Honestly it would take to much for Mr. Monaghan to start that community because he would have to do research on every person that attempts to move in that community.
March 4th, 2006 at 2:27 pm
This sounds a lot like some of the people who first moved to America to set theie own rules based on their religious beliefs, like the Puritans. But these same groups who founded America also were attempted to escape the laws based on other people’s religious beliefs. It’s exactly that freedom that allows people to try experiments like this. And it’s also there businesses take advantage of the opportunities provided by supressing freedoms.
March 4th, 2006 at 7:19 pm
The Florida ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) is wasting its resources in fighting Thomas Monaghan’s efforts to build a township based on strict Roman Catholic principles. Because this would be a voluntary move, people and businessmen alike should be bound to the rules and principles of the township just as they would if they were moving into any subdivisions with covenants and restrictions, country clubs with rules and regulations, or churches with specific guidelines and principles. According to the ACLU of Florida’s religious liberty guidelines, the ACLU “works to ensure that religious liberty is protected . . .†Clearly, people moving to Monaghan’s proposed Roman Catholic township desire to practice their religion strictly and diligently. Any opposition to their efforts is in direct contract to the protection of their religious liberty. Certainly there is the possibility that pharmacies and adult bookstores will try to make money from Monaghan’s efforts; however, it is unlikely that faithful practicing Roman Catholics seeking to avoid such temptations will frequent these businesses. Bluntly stated, this is just ACLU litigation for litigation’s sake. The civil liberties of Roman Catholics and their religious beliefs and practices are being harmed. The comparison of the conditions of the “lease†in a parent’s home concerning the rights of the children is certainly a good one. The ACLU has no right to intervene if the lease is binding and appropriate. In August 2002 in the lawsuit of Sultaana Lakiana Myke Freeman v. State of Florida, the ACLU sided with a Muslim woman whose license was revoked by the state because she refused to take off her Niqab (face covering) when taking her driver’s license picture. The very fact that the ACLU stepped in to defend the rights of a Muslim woman but refuses to allow fellow American Roman Catholics to practice their beliefs is hypocritical.
March 4th, 2006 at 10:12 pm
The ACLU should not be using their resources to fight this. If people sign a contract to abide by these rules then they know what they are getting into. If they decide later that they don’t like the rules (and I believe that some will) then they should just move out, not cause a court battle over it. The give up these certain rights when they move in. However there are going to be some people in the town that get bored, curious, or maybe believe that 10 kids are enough! So yes, I do believe that there will be pharmacies and adult bookstores (among other things) that will develop outside of this town. These stores will probably do fairly well because the demand for these goods will be high because there is no supply of these goods in their town. Another problem may arise in the town when some of the kids grow into teenagers. Their beliefs may be a little different than their parents. Most teenagers are curious and THE GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER ON THE OTHER SIDE. So the stores will then benefit from these kids sneaking stuff into the town.