Thomas S. Monaghan, the Domino's Pizza magnate, is using a huge slice of his pizza dough to build himself a town [1] in Florida with a fundamentalist foundation; the town will be governed strictly according to Roman Catholic principles.

The town of Ave Maria [2], as Monaghan envisions it, would be a saintly enclave free of such modern day ills as pornography, birth control, and abortion. Now, I understand that such a wholesome environment sounds downright heavenly to a lot of people. Honestly, I can't say I was saddened when the topless bar on the corner of Sixth Avenue and 24th street became a bagel shop.

But I'm a bit uneasy at the thought of one man spending somewhere between $250 and $400 million dollars to impose his religious beliefs on an entire community. According to Monaghan, who sold Domino's Pizza back in 1998 in order to devote himself to “good works,” he's simply doing God's will [3]. Apparently God is calling for, among other things, a nearly 65 foot tall crucifix to tower over the 11,000 homes Monaghan plans to build.

At Ave Maria's groundbreaking ceremony last month, Florida governor Jeb Bush praised the project as “a new kind of town where faith and freedom will merge to create a community of like-minded citizens.”

Environmentalists fear that the development, which is on the edge of the Everglades, will encroach on the habitat of the already endangered Florida panther.

Civil libertarians fear that the development will encroach on the habits of already endangered democrats.

“I believe all of history is just one big battle between good and evil. I don't want to be on the sidelines,” Monaghan told Newsweek recently.

All of history is just one big battle? Does that include the thin crust versus deep dish debate? I can see why Monaghan is claiming divine inspiration, though. Lest we forget, this is the visionary who brought us the breadstick.