Born Ignorant

I think it would be more accurate to call a new born baby "ignorant" than "insane". Humans are born knowing practically nothing, but they begin learning almost immediately. Most of what they learn comes from other people and, after the first couple of years, much of that knowledge comes in the form of stories. Not all stories are true, but the best ones teach a lesson about life, whether they're true of not. Is this what you meant when you said "belief in imaginary things"?

Religions do so evolve over time, but not all of their followers are happy with the changes that take place. These guys are called "fundamentalists". They are always trying to get back to the old time religion, even though some of the old tenants are no longer workable, which is why they were changed in the first place.

The Mormons were persecuted, mostly because of their belief in polygamy. Their founder Joseph Smith and his brother Hiram were murdered by a mob while they were locked in a jail cell, shot to death right through the bars. The flock scattered after that, with the largest faction, led by Brigham Young, ending up in Utah. Some time later, there was a massacre of a wagon train full of innocent settlers that were just passing through the territory. It seems that some paranoid Mormons thought the settlers were an invasion force that had come to drive them out of Utah. Other than that, I don't think the Mormons were any more violent than anybody else in those days.

The polygamy thing came from a divine revelation given to their founder, who they called their "prophet". When Utah applied for statehood, they were told they had to renounce polygamy or no deal. I don't remember who was their prophet by then, but he coincidently had another divine revelation that rescinded the original revelation about polygamy. Some of the Mormons never did accept that second revelation, and spun off their own Fundamentalist Mormon Church. These are the guys who you hear about every now and then getting into trouble with the law over the issue. Well, not the original guys because they're all dead by now, but you know what I mean.

There are still a few prophets among us, but they are generally regarded as crackpots or charlatans. I've often wondered if the prophets of Biblical times were any better. Some of their predictions seem to have come true, but we don't know how many others made predictions that never came true because those guys wouldn't have made it into the Bible. Then there's the greatest prophet of all, Jesus, who predicted that He would be back within the current generation to kick ass and take names. When He didn't show up as expected, His followers just re-interpreted the prophesy, and they have been re-interpreting it ever since.