Liberals bothered by Ave Maria's reputation as a 'clean town'

USA Today has an article about Ave Maria University.

On Saturday, the town will open its doors to the public. Next week, Ave Maria University will move from its cramped quarters in Naples to a permanent campus here, which sits on what used to be about 1,000 acres of tomato plants.
Ave Maria has not been without controversy. The Florida American Civil Liberties Union has threatened to sue if the town bans birth control, as Monaghan suggested in a speech

What, a town without birth control in the drugstores, or pornography on cable, what is this guy a Nazi or something? Sounds like the world I was born into in 1962, a world of Gidget and Patty Duke innocence, which within 5 years had literally turned upside down, with HAIR and LSD.

That hasn't appeased the ACLU of Florida, which threatened a lawsuit. Monaghan's "comments on the record give us legitimate concerns about the community he's creating," says Executive Director Howard Simon. Although many religious groups, from the Amish to Hasidic Jews, have their own communities, "constitutional issues arise when the religious group wants to act as if it also has governmental authority."

In other words, we'll tolerate crazy Amish and Hasidim who want to live decently, but no clean Catholics!

The USA already is home to more than 200 Catholic colleges and universities. But Monaghan and his administrators say Ave Maria's campus will reflect a faithfulness to Catholic teachings that they do not see elsewhere. The campus will have single-sex dorms, for instance. And every residence hall will have a chapel.
"We make no apologies for seeking to uphold Catholic moral teachings," particularly when it comes to relations between men and women, Ave Maria University President Nicholas Healy says. "We would not approve of or facilitate something that is very common, I'm told, on college campuses today, hooking up and sleeping around, and … binge drinking."

He's right. It's a terrible scandal for the Church, not only aberrant theology and morality taught at so-called Catholic universities, but the lax moral climate in the dorms, where many students are corrupted. I remember Mother Angelica on her TV show, counseling a college student in one of the above corrupt universities, "dearie, you're paying those people all that money and you're losing your soul. That's not very bright of you!"

As a parting shot, USA Today mentions that Tom Monaghan is a college drop-out. No big letters after his name. Implication; how dare this undereducated dolt think he can start a university? The liberals, both in an out of the Church are waiting for this grand experiment to fail. I hope they are disappointed.

Two years ago, I drove from my brother's home on the east coast of Florida, through the tomato fields of Immokalee where they were constructing the Ave Maria campus, and into the housing development clubhouse they were renting to house the growing school. There, I found a bastion of Catholic culture with intelligent, polite students. I always measure the character of a college student by how they react to children. I work on two college campuses where I wouldn't dream of bringing my girls, because of the indecent dress, rudeness, foul language, and filthy, profane conversations they'd encounter. Not so at Ave Maria. Girls largely wore skirts, and were delighted to see children, many missing their numerous siblings at home. Guys were neat, and chivalrous opening doors, and offering directions. Many were just the type I hope my girls bring home to meet us someday.

We visited the Blessed Sacrament which is in Perpetual Adoration, passed by a coffee house, where intellectual discussion was taking place, not rude adolescent posturing, and found a Catholic conference given for the benefit of the local community. Students were processing around campus, led by nuns in full habit, saying the rosary. Afterwards, students were given a Strauss-style waltz lesson in preparation for the 19th century ball to be held the next day. My girls and I were entranced at the sight of the twirling partners, and the gorgeous music. I thought to ask if they had graduate programs for moms. Now, this is the type of college I could trust my precious daughters to!

For an article on Ave Maria summer conferences, click here.

Why does the ACLU oppose porn filters on library computers?

This article from World New Daily gives some insight.

"A former executive for the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia has been sentenced to eight years in prison after he admitted having "graphic and violent" child pornography.
Rust-Tierney previously had served as the president of the Virginia chapter of the ACLU, and admitted his guilt under a plea bargain.
It was Rust-Tierney who, nearly 10 years ago, had argued before the Loudoun County Library Board against any Internet filters on the computers at the public facility.
The library, which had been using filters on its computers, was ordered to change its policy by a federal court.
"The ACLU of Virginia urges the board to carefully consider a new Internet Use Policy that allows for maximum Internet access…," he said at the time.
He encouraged the library board to recognize "that individuals will continue to behave responsibly and appropriately while in the library," so therefore "the default should be maximum, unrestricted access to ... the Internet."

Is anyone out there suprised?
HT Spirit Daily

Take that, ACLU!

North Carolina City Stands up to ACLU
Officials in Thomasville, N.C., voted 6-1 Monday to ignore threats from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and allow prayer at city-council meetings.
Mike Johnson, senior legal counsel for Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), provided the council with a proposed policy in compliance with the U.S. Constitution.
“It’s amazing that, in a country founded on religious liberty, the right to open a public meeting with a prayer would be under attack,” he said. “But that is exactly what the ACLU has been doing the past several months – using its familiar tactics of fear, intimidation and disinformation to force municipalities into passive compliance with its agenda to eliminate our First Liberty, religious freedom.”
Councilman Dwight Cornelius said he hopes other municipalities will stand up to the ACLU.
“This is a freedom of speech issue, pure and simple,” he said.
ADF offers assistance to any municipality that’s under attack for “simply continuing a practice that the Supreme Court knows is ‘deeply embedded in the history and tradition of our country,’ ” Johnson added.
From Focus on the Family Citizen Link
Want to show your support for that praying town with guts? Ever hear of Thomasville furniture?

Do You Know How the ACLU has destroyed Christmas?

They threaten to sue municipalities and school districts which display any sign of religious observance. If the ACLU wins, the school district or town must pay outrageous legal fees. Thus, school boards and town councils are cowed into submission if they even suspect the ACLU might sue them. They fail to respect the First Amendment rights of citizens to a free religious expression.
This bill would stop the ACLU from doing this.
Religious-Liberties Bill Reintroduced in Senate
by Pete Winn, associate editor

Legislation would deny attorneys' fees to groups including the ACLU.

The Public Expressions of Religion Act made a comeback on Capitol Hill on Monday.

The bill would prevent activist groups like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) from challenging religious displays on public property and then demanding the government pay attorneys' fees.

It failed in the 109th Congress.

Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., said his legislation is needed because numerous school districts and towns have been "coerced into settling claims out of a fear of huge monetary losses."

"It's not fair for the ACLU to make taxpayers pay their legal bills," the senator added.

Amanda Banks, federal policy analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said the ACLU scours the country to find schools and other public places where the Ten Commandments, crosses or Bibles are displayed. The group sues for removal, misusing a law originally intended for civil-rights cases.

"They can say, 'If you don't remove this, we're going to sue you," Banks said. "The position they put a school district or town in is -- 'Either cave in or be prepared to lose a very large amount of money.' "

Not surprisingly, the ACLU opposes the measure.

"If PERA were to pass, Congress would isolate and discourage enforcement of a specific piece of our Bill of Rights," said Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU's Washington, D.C., office.

But Brownback said the Bill of Rights takes a body blow whenever the ACLU wins legal fees in freedom of religious expression cases.

One such case occurred in 2003, he said, when liberal groups won a challenge in Alabama to remove a Ten Commandments display from the rotunda of the Alabama Supreme Court building. Taxpayers were forced to pay nearly $550,000 in attorneys' fees to Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the ACLU of Alabama and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Then, in Pennsylvania, a judge awarded $2 million to the ACLU of Pennsylvania and Americans United after the groups successfully sued the Dover, Pa., school board for requiring science teachers to teach intelligent design alongside evolution. The award was later reduced to $1 million.

The real question: How realistic are PERA's chances with ACLU-friendly Democrats in charge?

"It's going to be a tough bill to sell in this Congress," Banks said.

Last September, the House passed its own version -- championed by then-Rep. John Hostettler, R-Ind. That bill died in the Senate, and Hostettler was not re-elected.

"Last year, just one Democratic Senate member was a co-sponsor of the bill, and that was Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska," Banks noted. "He has not signed onto it yet this year, but there's no reason to believe that he wouldn't do so at a later date. One out of 51 Democratic senators is probably not enough."

Brownback, meanwhile, said his legislation would not stop plaintiffs with legitimate claims from having their day in court.