Domino's founder starts cult that draws only 500 members

Tom Monaghan is the founder of Domino's Pizza and a longtime right-wing activist.

Several years ago, Monaghan announced plans to build Ave Maria - a "city of God" in southwestern Florida based on his interpretation of "Catholic law." He invested hundreds of millions of dollars in this endeavor.

There's general agreement that the community founded by Monaghan is actually a cult - about on par with a Catholic high school I once attended. One observer also blasted Ave Maria as "country club Christianity." But Monaghan pressed ahead with his plans for the community, which is designed to hold 11,000 households.

Officials in Collier County actually lured the pizza tycoon's development, gave him everything he asked for, and praised its theocratic touches.

When it was first proposed, the plans were for Ave Maria to pass ordinances to outlaw condoms and the reception of adult TV broadcasts. Apparently, Monaghan backed down when civil liberties groups pointed out that basing city ordinances on religious law would be unconstitutional. He also realized he had to broaden the community's appeal, so he began using the town's physical layout (rather than its intolerance and theocratic rule) as a selling point.

Unfortunately for Tom Monaghan, his cult hasn't quite lived up to his grandiose expectations. Although he expected tens of thousands of residents, Ave Maria has drawn only about 500 inhabitants from all over the country and beyond.

Its population probably consists of all of Free Republic's remaining users.

Reminds me of how my former high school kept squandering money on new buildings and boasting of how its enrollment was going to double in 5 years. The new classrooms ended up sitting empty for years with the chairs flipped upside-down on the desks.

Whoever said religious extremists are as much of a threat at home as they are abroad was right. But at least now there's 500 who have isolated themselves in this kooky cult instead of staying in your town to yank library books off the shelves at your kids' school or drive video stores out of town for carrying R-rated movies.

(Source: http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/realestate/article997884.ece)