Church of the Universe location of formation Canada
The Assembly of the Church of the Universe, an entheogen religion, was established by Walter Tucker in 1969 in the Canadian province of Ontario. The Church uses marijuana as a sacrament and promotes nudity as a demonstration of human honesty.Activities
Tucker founded the church at a water-filled former quarry in Puslinch, Ontario in Wellington County between Hamilton and Guelph in 1969. After he leased the site for a nominal fee, he renamed it Clearwater Abbey.
Clearwater Abbey's presence in the area was not without controversy, including allegations of noisy ceremonies on the property, the discovery nearby of human remains in 1975, the termination of its lease in 1982, and the final forcible removal of members from the property by police and sheriffs in 1986.  An attempt to relocate to a disused foundry, renamed Hempire Village, in Guelph in 1994 met a similar fate.  The church is now located in north Hamilton.
Today Clearwater Abbey, in north Flamborough on the border of Puslinch, is known as the environmentally sensitive Fletcher Creek Conservation Area and is owned by Hamilton Region Conservation Authority.The church's ritual use of cannabis and its occasional practice of nudism has attracted attention from both the media and police. Because of members' regular possession and use of cannabis as a sacrament, legal charges of criminal possession and trafficking in marijuana laid against individual members are a common occurrence.
Frequent court challenges, based on charges or the exercise of political rights, have created an additional pair of intertwined activities: the Legal Self-Defence fund and the University of Universe.  Members who defend themselves or others in court are granted degrees from this non-accredited university, the level depending on the level of court involved.
In the past, both Baldasaro and Tucker have utilized political candidacy for various public and party offices as a platform for espousing their religious beliefs.
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