Aretism

Aretism is an synthetical ideology that incorporates elements of spiritualism, fundamentalist religion, and totalitarianism. Due to its breadth and multi-layered nature, Aretism cannot be classified through traditional political or even religious means. However, it does encompass a broad array of earlier philosophical thought and can be seen as a culminating amalgamation of multiple strands of thought seen through the 24th century.

History
Aretism as an ideology emerged in the late 2360s in Solentia as a strain within the Axis Neopanterran Solentia Party. A group of ambitious young scholars, lead by the charismatic Inner Party magistrate Immanuel Young, proposed an alternative to the secular and in their view intellecutally bankrupt doctrines of Panterranism and Archonism. In Immanuel Young's manifesto, The Tribulations of Man, the group laid out a philosophy proposing a new moral imperative and rationale for totalitarianism.

Calling itself the "First Avataric Covenant," this group quickly gained clout within disenchanted members of the ANSP but encountered fierce resistance from other members of the Inner Party. In 2371, a concillium of the ANSP's Inner Party issued an official ban on The Tribulations of Man and the Covenant. The ban would have destroyed the fledgling movement had it not been for a defector in the Outer Party, Claudo Juilar, who allowed the Covenant to go into hiding in Metapontum.

After nearly 5 years of silence, the Covenant re-emerged more powerful and intellectually matured under the banner of the Axis Deific Aretist Movement. Its tremendous support from the populus quickly persuaded the ANSP to merge with the new party, leading to the present situation.

Doctrine
At the heart of Aretism are four key notions. The first is the concept of Αμαρτία(Amartia), or "failure sin." Aretism holds that every human being from birth is marked with amartia, condemming mankind to a state of barbarism and futility. This, according to Young's The Tribulations of Man is the central failing of all previous political ideologies-- they failed to recognize the inability of any human to govern another human. Aretism addresses this concept through its second central idea, which is the Θεός(Theos). The Theos is the universal spiritual entity that binds the universe and all its inhabitants together, an all- pervading force endowing life, action, thought, and existence. It is what marks human beings with amartia, and to the Aretist, demands that every man and woman transcend their state of failure to a state of Αρετή(Arete), the third tenet of Aretism. Arete is the ideal condition of man where he is purely inhabited by the theos, bringing ultimate happiness and enlightenment. Such a transcendental state, however, is not something that can be accomplished voluntarily. Unadulterated arete is only accessible to certain individuals, known in Aretism as the avatar(Avatar), though usually Αυαταρ. The Avatar is a human incarnation of the Theos who elevates man from his state of sin and acts as a direct intermediary between the human race and the Theos.