blevkog

I don't think this is a new concept in america. The first thought was with the Mennonite communities whose laws a also very strict. No one says boo about them. Why would anyone care about this community? It is not like they are forcing people to live there. They are simply setting up a community of like minded (though some would say a little blinded by their faith) people. If the people allow them to run their community with the combination of their laws and the laws of the country everything will be just fine.

Paul,

I think the problem with legality might lie in the guy that's setting it up owning all of the commercial property in the city. It will be interesting to see how this works out, but I don't think that it's in anyone's best interest to ghettoize the nation - and if this takes off, who knows if it will spread?

The difference, Paul, is that the Mennonites only apply those laws to themselves - there's nothing preventing me from moving into a Mennonite community and running a pharmacy that sells contraceptives, if I was so minded to do so - the only problem would be a lack of a customer base. This community, on the Gripping Hand, does impose it's religious strictures on me - if I move there, I'm not going to be allowed to sell contraceptives. And, don't think it's merely a matter of disagreeing with their religious beliefs - I'd have the same problem with a wealthy atheist such as Bill Gates or Warren Buffet setting up a community and declaring that you weren't allowed to build churches there. As Kev said, it's a ghettoization - although I might compare it more to a Renaissance-era Italian City-State, with Monaghan as Merchant-Prince.

Hey, considering Monaghan's former business connections, do you suppose they'll post a local calender, starting the years since the founding of the city, as A.D. - Anno Dominos?