The idea of an independent nation called Cascadia in North America’s temperate northwest, received a thumbs-up this week from an unexpected source: the Raëlian Movement, a mostly Quebec-based flying-saucer religion.
The most commonly seen flag of Cascadia (the “Doug Fir Flag”) |
One proposal for Cascadia’s borders. (There are many.) |
Based on Raël’s book, Aliens Took Me to Their Planet, published, coincidentally, the same year as Ecotopia, the group teaches that humanity is the product of genetic seeding by extraterrestrials and is enthusiastically sex-positive, pro-nudist, and anti-clerical. Last year, as reported at the time in this blog, Raëlians came out in opposition to Quebec’s separatist ruling party, the Parti Québécois (P.Q.), for its bigoted campaign against the display of religious symbols. The Québécois proposals were designed specifically to target Muslim religious dress, in a bid to pander to francophone anti-immigrant sentiment. Oddly, a Raëlian bishop opposed the banning of religious displays but opined instead that all religious texts that contained homophobic, religious-chauvinist, or patriarchal ideas should be censored by the state.
Raël |
...; since 2008, Raëlians have promoted a national and international “Go Topless Day”; ...
...; earlier this year the Raëlian-run company Clitoraid was chased out of Burkina Faso for founding an institution called the Pleasure Hospital, whose mission is surgical reparation of damage done by female genital cutting; ...
...; and, in a surprisingly tone-deaf public-relations move, they continue to promote the revival of the swastika as a positive symbol ...
They claim to be the numerically largest U.F.O. religion in the world. On the other hand, that is not so surprising, considering that some of their competition do not exactly have very effective membership-growth strategies ...
(Heaven’s Gate, 1997) |
Related articles from this blog:
“Greenpeace Declares Independent ‘Glacier Republic’ in Chile’s Andes” (March 2014)
“Quebec Free-Love Saucer Cult Joins Muslim-Headscarf Debate, Suggests Censoring Religious Texts” (Oct. 2013)
“Quebec Separatists Challenge Canadian Tolerance with Proposed Islamic-Headscarf Ban” (Sept. 2013)
“Vancouver Islanders Hope to Be Canada’s 11th Province, and Its Greenest” (Aug. 2013)
“Which Part of ‘Wet’suwet’en Territory’ Don’t They Understand?” (Nov. 2012)
“Quebec Separatists Challenge Canadian Tolerance with Proposed Islamic-Headscarf Ban” (Sept. 2013)
“Vancouver Islanders Hope to Be Canada’s 11th Province, and Its Greenest” (Aug. 2013)
“Which Part of ‘Wet’suwet’en Territory’ Don’t They Understand?” (Nov. 2012)
We've certainly been enjoying the article over at CascadiaNow, though I think legitimacy is not something we're having too much trouble building.
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