Posted on 02/27/2006 10:26:11 AM PST by annalex
Nothing in the article says that the town will be "Catholics-only". That would be illegal anyway.
Remember that this is an educational operation. Those graduates WILL be going out into the world to impact and renew the culture.
Okay, I want to live there! Sounds like heaven to me!
Touche!
They'll be going out into the world to be devoured if they don't understand the temptations and enemies they'll face.
It doesn't take a village... just responsible parenting.
I hear the mosquitos in FL are the size of bats and more ferocious :-)
No, those are the Palmetto Bugs.
I wonder why.
Another thought.... maybe this will inspire Mel to build one in Malibu!!! He's already built a church...
Look! There's even a moat surrounding it. From the link ..
The Ave Maria community totals about 5,000 acres, of which nearly 20% has been designated as the University campus. Connecting the University and the Town is a Town Core anchored by the landmark Oratory and incorporating retail and commercial space as well as residential condominiums.
Three additional commercial centers will provide essential goods and services, entertainment and dining, enabling residents and students alike to live, work and play within the community, often traveling by foot or bicycle.
When completed, the Town will contain some 11,000 residential dwellings in a wide variety of price ranges and neighborhoods. From rental apartments to condominiums, and from starter to estate homes, Ave Maria will offer something for nearly everyone.
Community resources will include an on-site fire/sheriff/EMS building, as well as medical facilities provided in partnership with the NCH Healthcare System; all will be operational when the community opens.
A significant network of parks and recreational areas has been included; in fact, about 45% of the total town area is devoted to lakes and open space. The Collier County Public Schools have been gifted land for both an elementary and a middle school, and the University plans a K-12 parochial school to be operational when the first phase of the community opens.
It is anticipated that the first phase of the University and Town, including representative housing and commercial areas, will be operational in mid 2007.
I don't know. This 'utopia' may start out just fine but how long before "Fr. Flapdoodle" manages to wend his way into town and train the "younguns'" in liturgical dance. The trad posse would then have to lynch him and the Ave Maria law students might have to defend them.
"I hope it works now, but if not, one day it will."
I wish the guy well, but I seriously doubt this will work.
It is defensive in nature, whereas my experience tells me the Holy Spirit works on the offensive.
I look to the underground Church in China as an example of how God works to influence a society - and there it seems He primarily works through people who as willing to do His will no matter what the cost - even including death.
I alluded to Waco for a reason. I think, the government will not allow it to exist, and it will stop at nothing to destroy it. Note that there are very serious legal issues Ave Maria will have to face regarding the federal abortion regime, to pick just one example. Ave Maria, -- if orthodox Catholic vision prevails in its construction, -- will be provoked into defiance of the law, and then it will be treated with force.
Would it work in absence of the hostile state? Europe consisted of religiously monolithic communities under Church law for about a thousand years and that state of affairs gave us the Western Civilization.
It is not a defensive enterprise. To build a society informed by the Church is the best offensive tool there is. The Church started by showing the pagans how to properly live. There is simply no alternative: Christian way of life is the core of Christian witness. I fear, however, that the cost might be more than a pizza empire, and paid in blood.
I have a backlog of posts to respond to, so please give me time to respond further about this.
Leading by example, a real start to traditonal values.
Os4 God Bless America!
For a typical layman, his greatest witness to the world is his manner of life.
If this were one isolated location, your objection might apply. If this were the beginning of a trend of going and founding new towns run on Christian principals, it would not.
The Amish seem to be doing fine. The important thing is a very high birthrate and retainment rate.
Wait until it's built before anyone moves.
Tom is a wonderful person and Dominos supports Pro-life causes (even without him there) BUT he is well know in MI for starting things and then pulling his $$$$$$$.
I heard that there is a group of nuns suing him because he started and elementary school then pulled the financing.
He is only going to put some restrictions on occupants. That is done by developers all the time.
Unrelated but one might recall Disney's "Celebration" experience-a model town which was suppose to reflect a great lifestyle. It didn't work and Disney sold "Celebration".
Just wait until a "gay" Catholic wants to buy a home in Ava Maria. Does anyone think someone will be able to stop them?
No, developers do not restrict occupants based on religion, race, or national origin. That has been illegal in the US at least since the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
The Ave Maria people certainly know this. These liberal critics are attempting to discredit Ave Maria before it even starts by portraying it as discriminatory.
However, he can prevent the establishment of such institiutions as "gentlemen's bars." or other places of low repute. The problem is that as time wears on, the original owners of homes are replaced by persons of a different stripe.
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