Valtinism

Valtinism is a major religion that became popular in the early 24th century

## Origins

Valtinism's origins began with the philosophical teachings of Professor William Kay at the University of Rhodes on New Carthage. He taught a class about the universe, foreign policy and espoused a belief that the universe itself as sentient and active.

His students brought his teachings to various worlds and they begun to gain popularity, especially on the Frontier worlds. Valtinism was first organized as a religion or following in 2325 when a group of students on New Corinth began a commune espousing the core Valtinist creed.

## Key Tenets

Valtnism is not a dogmatic religion and teaches its key tenets which are:

* The Universe itself is sentient and benevolent
* Living beings in the universe are not subject to the universes will
* But following that will lead to right outcomes and peace
* The universe wants peaceful coextistence for all living things
* Violence is an anathema to the universes design
* There is no need to believe in a creator God or a Soul, though Valtinists often do believe in this
* Other religions are tolerated as long as they do not teach violence or repression
* All adherents are free to express themselves

## What Do Valtinists Do

Valtinism is a non-doctrinal
religion and has no recognized “book of prayer”.  All Valtinists are allowed to continue to
worship whatever God or Gods they wish, or worship none at all.  Holding some contrary views is allowed within
Valtinism

IE
There are a number of Valtinists who do not believe in the soul or any form of
the afterlife.  They are not a mainstream
group but their views are not considered wrong or heretical.

Valtinism has only a few
requirements:

**Learning**:
all Valtinists must do all they can to learn, especially about other
cultures and race.  Valtinists are
encouraged to gain as deep an education as possible and there are Valtinist
schools run either free of charge or at a very low cost across the Empire.

**Understanding**:  Valtinists are expected to listen to the
views of others and to be open minded.  A
core tenet of Valtinism is that the universe is always trying to teach those
who keep an open mind.  Those showing
bigoted or closed-minded views in Valtinism are encouraged to change their ways
or risk being “excluded” from future association

**Charity**:
Valtinists are strongly encouraged to support their community,
especially other Valtinists.  Those with
the means to do so in a Valtinist society are encouraged to donate money, time
or other assets to the less fortunate and those Valtinists who are in need or
are struck with poverty will be directed to those who can help them.  As a side-point to this, Valtinism has a very
low tolerance for criminal behaviour as they believe there is always someone
who will be able to help you

**Association**:  probably the loosest concept in Valtinism is
that of association.  There is no
requirement to pray and there are no formal places of worship.  Valtinism teaches that you can worship alone
by a tree or with a thousand others in a school, a library or in the cargo hold
of a starship.  Valtinists are encouraged
to associate, to share knowledge, theories and experience.  They are also encouraged to share in social
ways and in most Valtinists communities there is a rich program of social
activities ranging from theatre, comedy nights, sports, lectures and
board-games.

There is no mode of dress or
symbol of Valtinist worship, though often they will be associated with light
blue colours and like simple star chart patterns.

## Conversion

A person is not required to
“convert” to Valtinism and anyone is welcome to attend a Valtnist event unless
it is for “Leadership” circles only.
Those attending but not yet a Valtinist are not approached to convert
and must make the first step, to ask for membership, without being
prompted.  Valtinism is not evangelical
and it is strongly encouraged to leave possible worshippers to their own
devices.

Those who do wish to convert and
become a Valtinsts are asked to attend a college or school, with travel paid
for by the Valtinists in their area if they cannot afford to do so.  The core tenets of Valtinism is explained to
the person over a period of a few months and when they emerge, they are
considered a member.

## The Rise of Valtinism

Valtinism continued to gain in popularity during the 2320's to the 2330's and communes and learning centers sprung up across the Frontier, especially in the South. Its teaching, along with no central leadership, lead to it being perceived as somewhat idiosyncratic but no threat.

The Federated States recognized it as a formal, organized religion in 2331. It was granted a partial tax emept status in 2336

Valtinism continued to gain popularity and attracted major figures from finance, business and the celebrity world. It's formal leadership was based around a Select Advisory Committee of 27, which eventually was upgraded to 41 members. The SAC usually selects multiple spokespersons and often reached out to lobbying firms.

Awash with money from donors and allies, the Valtinist SAC founded its own political party in 2340 referred to as The New Horizon Party.

## The New Horizon Party

The New Horizon Party was founded to lobby for and support the aims of the Valtinist community. It was, initially, a fringe party that could only win elections in the Southern Frontier.

It ran Presidential campaigns but never made too big an impact.

The Party was disbanded after the Imperial Coup of 2387

The Valtinist faith formed two new political parties going into the 2485 Parliamentary elections:

* The Justice and Truth Party -a socially liberal party dedicated to spreading the core values of Valtinism
* the Raven Heart Coalition - a conservative party that campaign on disbanding TND and reducing AI rights

## The Rangers

The Valtinist SAC, after much debate, formed its own private militia force to protects its adherents. This group was referred to as The Rangers and was trained on Fort Verekker.

The Rangers was initially a force of about 5,000 men and women but continued to grow. There are some within the Valtinist faith who see the Rangers as contrary to the nature of the faith. However, the Rangers are encouraged to use non-violent means whenever possible but, that violence in self-defence is acceptable if unavoidable.

Previous First Rangers:

1. Leyton Reid - 2380-2400
2. Paddick Montrose -2400-2455
3. Fortis McDere -2455-2475
4. Powell Hamlyn -2475-