Global Religions 102/Spring 2009

Our God- Ramon Al exander Lucero aka " The Pi rat e"

Although most followers of Isla Vistaism know their God, their founder, as The Pirate, his real name is Ramon Alexander Lucero.

Born in Los Angeles, California.

Ended up in Isla Vista, California, by mistake. During a self exploration journey, once he arrived in IV he felt the need to stay to preach the words of his beliefs, which resulted in the creation of “Isla Vistaism.”

Organi zat i on and Communi t y

We function as a hierarchy. The Pirate is our God. Faculty on the UCSB campus- teach the history of

Isla Vista and Freebirds to our followers . Students- Are the recruiters, they spread the

word of the pirate whose motto is live life as you want it by having fun all day everyday while choosing what to put on your burritos and nachos at Freebirds.

• Community centers include- the UCSB campus such as the Arbor and Storke Tower. The park where the pirate hangs out and the beach.

• Since we all know that the place of worship is expensive, the local sororities and fraternities have fundraisers to provide money for the local community to attend Freebirds at least twice a day mostly by having parties and charging at the door.

• The money is also used for pilgrims who come from outside the Isla Vista community because we have gone global. We require that those who are part of our religion travel to freebirds at least once to taste the wonderful food from Freebirds.

Immensity, vastness, tranquility, liberty…freedom

…symbol s to our dest i nat i on

Bicycles represent our mode of transportation to our spiritual places and are a big symbol in our community of IV

The Storke Tower represents

a place of gathering for our

followers to meet.

FREEB!RDS is like our holy place of gathering because it provides us with the freedom of choosing what ever we want in our food and it brings us together as 1.

Ritual & worship

Concl usi on

The people of Isla Vistaism have found happiness and truth under the teachings and practices of Pirate. Our religion is accepting of all others, and just like a monster burrito, “you can have whatever you want on it.” We encourage our followers to try new things and be accepting of everyone.