Friday, March 03, 2006
New Catholic Town in Florida?
I’ve seen in a couple of different places now people calling for a boycott of Domino’s Pizza because founder Tom Monaghan is attempting to build an all Catholic town in Florida.
Read about it here
Now, first things first…Tom Monaghan no longer owns Domino’s Pizza, he sold it several years ago to Bain Corp and pocketed several million dollars and skidaddled. Secondly, he’s not even on the Board of Directors, so boycotting Domino’s Pizza is not going to harm Mr. Monaghan in any way shape or form.
Secondly, I think we can all safely say that while Mr. Monaghan’s plans are grandiose and very likely will not be allowed according to the US Constitution, IF people want to live in such a town voluntarily, who are we to stop them? Sure, the Vatican’s rules regarding birth control and abortion are archaic, and even potentially harmful to general health and wellbeing of women, but, who are We to say that Others cannot believe and go along with such things?
I went to Catholic school from kindergarten to gr. 8, I know quite a bit about the restrictions of that particular religion, as well as others. I was never baptized into the Catholic church because my parents, being of differing religious backgrounds, and neither particularly keen on the church, left it up to us (me and my sister) to make that decision our own way. Kudos to my parents, they did at least one thing right! ;-)
But I do know quite a lot of very devout Catholics who go along with the church’s dogma and rules. That’s fine for them, if they find that it does not interfere with their lives in any way. Just because they feel that way, is no reason for me, or anyone else for that matter, to say that they shouldn’t think that way. By that reasoning, aren’t those people urging boycotts of Domino’s saying to Monaghan and other Catholics that they have no right to believe the way they believe? (again I’ll mention that boycotting Domino’s is in no way going to have any affect on Monaghan at all).
While I disagree with Mr. Monaghan’s and the Catholic church’s view, I see no reason why, if 30,000 Catholics want to all live together in one town in Florida, they should be discouraged from doing so. If they want to not allow birth control or abortions in this town, fine, the people living there are there voluntarily, so who are we to say what services should be offered by their doctors?
Now it would be a whole other story if Mr. Monaghan and his cohorts were *forcing* people somehow to live there, and forcing them to live according to Catholic teachings. But it doesn’t sound like that’s what this is all about. Its not like there currently is a town there, and they’re going to put a wall up and say “ha! You’re stuck here now! Neener neener!”
I’ve seen a few articles about this, and only one has mentioned toward the end of the article that Monaghan no longer owns Domino’s. I just wanted to clarify this, because really, boycotting the product is not going to stop this town being built. Even if he did still have anything to do with it. You’re just harming independent small business owners, most of whom have never met Mr. Monaghan, and aren’t even Catholic. Some may not even be Christians. ;-)
It is doubtful that this town will ever be built according to Monaghan’s dream. But so what if it is? We all choose where we live, and we all choose what religion we do or don’t follow. That’s what the constitution is for, who are we to infringe upon someone else’s religious rights and freedoms? I don’t believe what he does, but for those who do, and for those who would like to live there, all the power to ‘em. They’re not forcing it on anyone, what’s the harm?
*shrug* ¶ 2:49 PM
Read about it here
Now, first things first…Tom Monaghan no longer owns Domino’s Pizza, he sold it several years ago to Bain Corp and pocketed several million dollars and skidaddled. Secondly, he’s not even on the Board of Directors, so boycotting Domino’s Pizza is not going to harm Mr. Monaghan in any way shape or form.
Secondly, I think we can all safely say that while Mr. Monaghan’s plans are grandiose and very likely will not be allowed according to the US Constitution, IF people want to live in such a town voluntarily, who are we to stop them? Sure, the Vatican’s rules regarding birth control and abortion are archaic, and even potentially harmful to general health and wellbeing of women, but, who are We to say that Others cannot believe and go along with such things?
I went to Catholic school from kindergarten to gr. 8, I know quite a bit about the restrictions of that particular religion, as well as others. I was never baptized into the Catholic church because my parents, being of differing religious backgrounds, and neither particularly keen on the church, left it up to us (me and my sister) to make that decision our own way. Kudos to my parents, they did at least one thing right! ;-)
But I do know quite a lot of very devout Catholics who go along with the church’s dogma and rules. That’s fine for them, if they find that it does not interfere with their lives in any way. Just because they feel that way, is no reason for me, or anyone else for that matter, to say that they shouldn’t think that way. By that reasoning, aren’t those people urging boycotts of Domino’s saying to Monaghan and other Catholics that they have no right to believe the way they believe? (again I’ll mention that boycotting Domino’s is in no way going to have any affect on Monaghan at all).
While I disagree with Mr. Monaghan’s and the Catholic church’s view, I see no reason why, if 30,000 Catholics want to all live together in one town in Florida, they should be discouraged from doing so. If they want to not allow birth control or abortions in this town, fine, the people living there are there voluntarily, so who are we to say what services should be offered by their doctors?
Now it would be a whole other story if Mr. Monaghan and his cohorts were *forcing* people somehow to live there, and forcing them to live according to Catholic teachings. But it doesn’t sound like that’s what this is all about. Its not like there currently is a town there, and they’re going to put a wall up and say “ha! You’re stuck here now! Neener neener!”
I’ve seen a few articles about this, and only one has mentioned toward the end of the article that Monaghan no longer owns Domino’s. I just wanted to clarify this, because really, boycotting the product is not going to stop this town being built. Even if he did still have anything to do with it. You’re just harming independent small business owners, most of whom have never met Mr. Monaghan, and aren’t even Catholic. Some may not even be Christians. ;-)
It is doubtful that this town will ever be built according to Monaghan’s dream. But so what if it is? We all choose where we live, and we all choose what religion we do or don’t follow. That’s what the constitution is for, who are we to infringe upon someone else’s religious rights and freedoms? I don’t believe what he does, but for those who do, and for those who would like to live there, all the power to ‘em. They’re not forcing it on anyone, what’s the harm?
*shrug* ¶ 2:49 PM
