I don’t spend a lot of time wondering where my money goes when I buy food. I figure it’s going to the employees, the owner of the franchise, and whatever is left goes to some obscure CEO locked up in an office, counting his money. I always figured these guys were like Scrooge; they made you work in the cold, giving you as little time off to spend with your invalid son as possible. It never occurred to me some of these guys might actually hold religious views that seriously jeopardized the liberties of others. Thomas Monaghan, founder of Dominoes Pizza™, has built a rather large Catholic town in Florida called Ave Maria. After purchasing precious swamp land, he decided to create a new Eden, where fresh faced young Christians can witness to one other, while they deny their fellow citizens birth control, and the ability to have safe abortions. He didn’t go halfway into this venture; Monaghan poured his billion dollar fortune into building his Catholic haven, selling his business to afford this dream.

When 27 million dollar creation museums are springing up, you know fundamentalists have access to some serious cash, but Monaghan goes far beyond the hopes and dreams of exclusionary pious folks. He’s not the only business owner with deep pockets who is pushing an agenda; Gary Heavin, the founder and CEO of Curves™, donates a considerable amount of his earnings to pro-life organizations. Although the chain itself is not involved, its growing popularity has no doubt allowed a substantial increase in his donations.

Although I do believe people should be allowed to spend their money as they see fit (so long as no one is hurt), I nevertheless feel it is my duty not to support any company or institution I feel is doing people a disservice. Monaghan’s University is just another fledgling religious lapdog, ready to churn out countless generations of conservatively minded individuals who oppose women’s right to choose, gay marriage, or not generally believing in a bearded, andro-centric god. Although he no longer owns Dominoes, it might prompt me to be a bit more careful where I choose to purchase.