"Catholictown" Versus The American Town

On one hand any effort to promote faith in God is usually a positive feature. However in a Florida town, the effort to create a single town largely oriented simply around the Catholic faith is not without serious concerns.

There are certainly problems with the role of seperation of church and state in that can government funds go to fund a community largely built around the feature that only one religious group is welcome. In a state like Utah where the Mormon Church dominates, at least reasonable secular seperation exists between the church and government, although the Mormon Church certainly has a great deal of influence in all public policy decisions.

America was built on the belief of a free exercise of all religion, not communities in which only one faith dominates or promotes their personal church doctrines which are often at odds with Bibical teachings and Scriptural teachings.

For example, the sale of contraceptives will be discouraged in "Catholictown", yet no support in Scriptures exists for this doctrine. Clergy do not marry in the Catholic faith, which may be partially responsible for some of sex abuse problems within the church, and in oppostion to the teachings of Paul in the New Testament who offered marriage by clergy as an optional feature for Christians if they so choose. And further, what sort of religious prohibitions will be placed on popular culture. The concept of "community standards" now means that nothing that ridicules or questions the faith may be allowed, or that unreasonable standards imposed on retailers. What happens when constitutionally protected magazines, newspapers, books, CDs and videos are sold that are frowned on or surpressed in this community. And will all religions really feel welcome in such a community?

The practice of religion was really pretty much intended to reflect the Bibical teaching of "for me and my house" to allow for individual families to worship God, not for entire communities to impose wrongful church doctrines with the blessing of government authority.

Without a doubt most people who live in a community such as "Catholictown" are very good persons and most likely saved. But they are not following strictly Bible teachings and are instead good followers of purely a church doctrine.