Ignoramianism

Ignoramianism is an obscure and secretive religion defined by the worship of the god Ignoramius, whose primary "teaching" to his followers is that all knowledge is evil. Pious Ignoramians therefore prize ignorance and generally shun knoledge as much as possible. Regarding curiosity as sinful and unnecessary knowlege as shameful, they typically apologize to anyone to whom they find it necessary to relay information, and often appear embarrassed when forced to admit that they themselves are in possession of knowledge on any given subject. To blatantly state facts in the presence of an Ignoriamian is considered a grave insult.

Beyond striving to remain as ignorant as possible themselves, Ignoramians also serve their god by working to deprive others of knowledge in various ways. Far from being prone to prosyletization, Ignoramians particularly do their best to keep the existence and nature of their religion under wraps. They are also adamantly opposed to books, and they sometimes plot to burn down libraries, schools, and other institutions that exist to spread knowledge. These activities, of course, tend to require a degree of planning and coordination that would be impossible without at least some of the people involved knowing a great deal about them, but Ignoramian clerics operate on the premise that as individuals chosen by Ignoramius to do his holy work, it is sometimes necessary for them to pollute themselves with knowledge (however unpleasant this may be) as a means to the end of spreading ignorance to the masses.

The Ignoramian bible is a thick book whose pages are all completely blank, and pious Ignoramians often study it while blindfolded. White Blindfolds are, in fact, common devotional items among the Ignoramians, and are typically worn during both public worship and private prayer. Especially devout and ascetic Ignoramians occasionally subject themselves to extended periods of total sensory deprivation in an effort to purify their souls and win divine favor.

Every Ignoramian holds one of five official "ranks" reflective of the degree to which he or she has managed to purge himself of such evils as curiosity, knowledge, and understanding. Each successive rank is ritually bestowed upon an individual by an Ignoramian cleric in recognition of the progress that he or she has made toward the embrace of true ignorance, and one's rank is typically appended to the end of one's name as an epithet. Ignoramian initiates and those who are not particularly pious rank as Enlightened; more pious Ignoramians are called Wise. The next rank--that of Uninformed--is typically held by clerics. A fairly small number of highly respected clerics and devoted monks eventually attain the rank of Naive, and occasionally, a spiritual virtuoso will ascend to the pinnacle of Ignoramian piety and attain the rank of Ignorant.

Ignoramian theurges tend to employ spells that either destroy knowledge or impede its dissemination. It was the Ignoramians, for example, who first perfected the Knowledge-Seeking Fireball. Indeed, using fire to destroy knowledge is a common theme. Obscuring their doings from prying eyes by conjuring thick, impenetrable fog is a venerable Ignoramian tactic as well.