Author
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Topic: Corporate investors looking for a piece of the pie-ty
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M. Spector
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 8273
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posted 25 September 2006 11:42 AM
quote: Forget the image of the dusty old Christian book store. The business of selling to Christians has reached a whole new plane. And nothing, and everything, is sacred. Corporate America is finding religion -- in music, movies, radio stations, banks, biblical theme parks, anti-abortion mutual funds, health clubs, and even faith-based towns. ....Christian subdivisions are sprouting up across the country, and at least one entire Catholic town is rising out of a farm field near the Florida Everglades. Tom Monaghan, founder of Domino's Pizza Inc. and a devout Catholic, has pumped a chunk of his fortune into Ave Maria Town in Immokalee, Fla. The community will have 11,000 homes, its own schools (including a 5,000-student university) and, if Mr. Monaghan gets his way, porn-free television and drugstores that refuse to sell contraceptives. For investors, there are now dozens of faith-based mutual funds to choose from, including ones that shun companies linked to abortion and pornography or that offer employee benefits to unwed partners. .... According to a sweeping new study by Baylor University -- American Piety in the 21st Century -- one-third of Americans, or 100 million people, now identify themselves as Evangelical Protestants. Half of all Americans go to church at least once a month, and 85 to 90 per cent say they believe in God. The market for Christian products -- including books, movies and music -- is worth $7.5-billion (U.S.) a year and is growing much faster than overall retail sales, according to Packaged Facts. The market for services may be even larger. And the most fervent consumers are Evangelicals, 54 per cent of whom spend at least $50 a month on Christian products. .... At Holy Land, the quest for knowledge comes in the form of daily live re-enactments of the crucifixion, plus scale models of Jerusalem, Herod's Temple and Christ's tomb. The park was opened in 2001 to capitalize on the tens of millions of tourists who flock to nearby Disney World every year. Mr. Hayden said it's now becoming a destination in its own right for faith-based tour groups, drawing more than 200,000 visitors a year. Source
From: One millihelen: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. | Registered: Feb 2005
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Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560
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posted 25 September 2006 12:18 PM
Ha! quote: The community will have 11,000 homes, its own schools (including a 5,000-student university) and, if Mr. Monaghan gets his way, porn-free television and drugstores that refuse to sell contraceptives.
So, I guess the 90% of Catholics* who use contraceptives of some kind will have to drive out of town to get the goods, huh? (*I pulled that statistic directly out of my ass. But I'm betting it's not far off.)
From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001
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M. Spector
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 8273
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posted 29 September 2006 09:41 PM
"Pizza pope" builds a Catholic heaven quote: A former marine who was raised by nuns and made a fortune selling pizza has embarked on a £230m plan to build the first town in America to be run according to strict Catholic principles. Abortions, pornography and contraceptives will be banned in the new Florida town of Ave Maria, which has begun to take shape on former vegetable farms 90 miles northwest of Miami. Tom Monaghan, the founder of the Domino’s Pizza chain, has stirred protests from civil rights activists by declaring that Ave Maria’s pharmacies will not be allowed to sell condoms or birth control pills. The town’s cable television network will carry no X-rated channels. .... Monaghan, 68, sold his takeaway chain in 1998 for an estimated $1 billion (£573m). A devout Catholic who has ploughed millions into religious projects — including radio stations, primary schools and a Catholic law faculty in Michigan — Monaghan has bought about 5,000 acres previously used by migrant farmers. The land on the western edge of the Everglades swamp will eventually house up to 30,000 people, with 5,000 students living on the university campus. Florida officials have declared the project a development bonanza for a depressed area, and Governor Jeb Bush attended a groundbreaking ceremony for the new university earlier this month. Yet civil rights activists and other watchdogs concerned about the separation of church and state are threatening lawsuits if Ave Maria attempts to enforce Catholic dogma. Environmentalists have also complained the town will restrict the habitat of the Florida panther, an endangered species. .... Sources close to the project said Monaghan was particularly disturbed by what he regards as the failure of western civilisation to resist Islamic fundamentalism. In a speech to students last year Healy warned that Islam “no longer faces a religiously dynamic West”. .... Monaghan has argued that the owners of the town’s commercial properties will be free to impose conditions in leases — notably the restriction on the sale of contraceptives. But that has been challenged by Howard Simon, executive director of the Florida branch of the American Civil Liberties Union.
From: One millihelen: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. | Registered: Feb 2005
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