Editing TROS in the Hammer:Setting Religion (section)

==Informatio==
Informatio (the Knowledge) is the religion based on the words of the Pastor, a prophetic figure who arose some 500 years ago in a distant land far to the West of the People, called Lacuna Niger (Black Pool) in Lingua, the language of that land.  Its adherents are called Informatii or Conhencimenti (the Knowledgeable in Lingua and in Valongon, respectively). 

The Pastor was apparently a young well-to-do philosopher in that part of the World, who, through a series of philosophical and metaphysical trials, received the Informatio, and in turn began to preach it.  It is somewhat unique, as religions go, because it is atheistic.

===Where did it all come from?===
The Informatio, as the Pastor preached it, does not really address the ultimate origin of the World.  The Pastor suggests, but does not claim it to be factual, that the World was born in an analogous way to the way a child is born, and that the World may indeed be one of many worlds, each one a different child.  The Pastor simply refuses to discuss the idea of a Parent as being outside the scope of rational discussion and hence meaningless.

===Whats the point of it all?===
The Pastor's prudentia (insight) into the reason for the world's existence was two-fold.  First, all living things evolve and change.  Second, living things evolve into higher and higher levels of complexity.  This is because the entire universe is permeated with the Instigo, the urge, to become something more.  This does not come from any God; the Pastor did not allow for anything supernatural to exist in the world.  Rather, it is a kind of constant striving to achieve bigger and better things that is written into the fabric of exisitence as deeply as the law of gravity.  The Instigo operates at all levels of life, from the smallest insect, to the largest animal, and even operates at the level of groups of individuals and society itself.  This urge to become "higher" (i.e. more complex, more efficient, more impressive) is simply a force of nature.  Humanity, then, is the highest expression of life, its best and brightest product so far.  And it is the intellect, above all else, that demonstrates this superiority.  

===Why does bad stuff happen?===
The Informatio teaches that much of what SEEMS like bad stuff really isn't.  It raises the idea of "what does not kill you, makes you stronger" to the level of a virtue.  The Pastor taught that all matter and nature is like a blacksmith's anvil and hammer.  It batters a piece of metal over and over again, but not for the purpose of destruction; rather, the battering is to mold the metal into something new and better.

The Pastor also taught that much of what we call "evil" is really just people working and living contrary to the Instigo, the drive to become "higher".  However, there is another virtue in the Informatio called veneratio (reverence), which is probably its highest virtue.  To practice veneratio is to revere those things that are "high", and especially those things (i.e. people) that are "higher" than you are.  Thus, those that rule society, if they properly demonstrate their superiority to do so, are worthy of veneratio, and provide laws and customs that order society for optimum efficiency, in harmony with the Instigo.  To go contrary to these laws is to be contrary with the instigo, and show a lack of veneratio.  Thus, submission to proper (i.e. superior) authority is considered a good thing for the most part, EXCEPT when the authorities have proven their incompetence and lack of superiority.  Also, as all of humanity is considered the pinacle of nature, respect for one's fellow humans, their wishes and needs, is considered essential to a proper understanding of veneratio.  Things such as murder, rape, theft, etc., are not viewed as "evil" so much as showing a lack of respect for both the individual and for the society as a whole.

===What happens when I die?===
The Pastor taught that death is truly the end of exisitence.  There is no real afterlife.  Sort of.

While your own individual consciousness may not exactly persist beyond death, your memory does; all of those things you did that people remember you for contribute to creating a recordatio (recollection, memory, a difficult word to translate) of yourself in the minds of others and in the fabric of nature itself.  The recordatii (what the People call shades) are what are contacted by what the People call "witchcraft", and what the Informatii call the ars memoria.  The Pastor did not teach that the recordatii were the actual spirits or souls of the dead; the Pastor repudiated such concepts as being irrational.  But they were, nevertheless, important tokens, reminders, and presences of the dead in our lives, and worthy of veneratio.

===How should I live my life?===
The Informatio has a rich ethical tradition associated with it, with an array of practical and philosophical texts to draw upon.  However, its principle virtues are:
* Ancestor reverence - the Informatii revere their ancestors and other important figures with a fervor that borders on worship.  They routinely contact the recordatii for guidance and wisdom, build shrines in which the dead can be honored, etc.
* Submission to superior authority - the Informatio teaches that superior (i.e rightful, competent authority) should be submitted to and revered.  Societies of the Pastorate tend to be well ordered places, with little room for much wide freedom of expression on matters of civil order.
* Primacy of reason - the Pastor himself taught that reason was the supreme development of nature, and that reason should guide all action.
* Competition - the Pastor taught that competition and adversity are the fires that purify the mind and body.  Therefore, competitions of various sorts are common in the Pastorate.  Public positions are given out by competetive examination, for example, and leaders are often chosen in the same fashion.  All kinds of games and sports are also considered to be worthwhile activities, and are pursued with great passion.
* Denegration of spirits - the spirits are considered to be inferior beings in the Pastor's writings; inferior because they do not strive with the force of the Instigo.  They are not supernatural, per se, but they are unnatural, to some extent.  Spirits are used by the Informatii, but only as servants or slaves, never as friends or, worse yet, gods.  
* the Officium - The best purpose for all human kind is to press forward and progress.  The Informatio is self-evidently a new system, more progressed than any other ethical tradition or religion in the World.  The officium is therefore the obligation or duty placed on the Informatii by reason itself (and encouraged by its leaders) to export and push forward its adoption.  Therefore, the Informatii are highly evangelical, with Disciples commonly seen preaching its worth to the World.
* Rebellion and conquest - Submission to superior authority is only right and proper; submission to inferior authority is absurd.  Therefore, rebellion can be an expression of the officium, as can the conquest of a neighboring nation or culture.

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