The modern Word Processor you used to write your question was invented by Engineers from BYU, headed by Alan Ashton. Alan Ashton is Mormon.
Television was invented by a BYU Alumni. The inventor of Televisions name is Philo Farnsworth. Philo Farnsworth is Mormon.
The person that is the Father of modern Computer Graphics & Computer Animation in movies (& Television) is named Ed Catmull. Ed Catmull also started a company called Pixar, & is still in charge of it, & all Animation at Walt Disney (Toy Story, etc. etc. etc.) as well.
Ed Catmull is Mormon, & he is a graduate of the University of Utah.
All computer video games was pioneered by Nolan Bushnell. Nolan Bushnell also started a Robot entertainment restaurant Company called Chuck E. Cheese.
Nolan Bushnell grew up as a Mormon, & he also Graduated from the University of Utah.
All modern guns, rifles, and armaments were invented by a man named Browning. Many guns that do not bear his name were invented by him & other companies put their names on his inventions.
It was a Mormon Private (Third Class... since promoted) that found Saddam Hussein. Saddam Hussein was not found by the CIA, the FBI or Military Intelligence. He was found by a Private, who tracked him down like a hound dog tracks raw meat.
Saddam Hussein was a known Atheist & Marxist/Socialist. Did Saddam know it was a devoutly religious man who is a member of THE Church Of JESUS CHRIST Of Latter Day Saints that located him in a ditch in an obscure location, in Iraq?
Harold Angstrom the obscure soldier who found Saddam Hussein lying in a ditch, is Mormon.
If Mormons are so stupid & crazy then why is Saddam Hussein now wherever he is at, where Atheist Marxist/Socialist Dictators like him belong?
Why is that when others underestimated the recent aftermath of the recent Earthquake & disaster in Japan, it was Mormons who were on the ground helping the Japanese people obtain needed medical supplies & clean water and food, while others were underestimating the extent of the disaster there?
If you were being helped by Mormons after an Earthquake so that you don't starve to death or die of thirst or because you need insulin or what have you, but you can not get it, would Mormons seem so stupid then?
Who has the longest streak on the Television I.Q. measuring game show Jeopardy, in history? Ken Jennings that is who. Ken Jennings is Mormon.
The fact of the matter is, that Mormons have built the modern world that you live in.
Turn on some music, with stereophonic sound, who invented that? A Mormon named Harvey Fletcher that is who. And if you are listening to an Amplified Electric Accoustic Guitar on your Mormon invented Stereo Sound system, who invented that? Alvino Rey. And Alvino Rey is...
a Mormon.
And if you blow your ears out because you are jacking the sound on your stereo up so high that you need hearing aids, who invented that? Harvey Fletcher, who is a devout Latter Day Saint.
So why would rational people believe in a irrational religion? Occam's Razor... the simplest answer is more than likely the true answer... because the religion is NOT irrational.
Just because you don't understand an invention does not make that invention irrational. Just because you don't understand THE Church Of JESUS CHRIST Of Latter Day Saints, does not make it irrational. It just means that you do not understand THE Church Of JESUS CHRIST Of Latter Day Saints, that's all.
Simple as that. You are confused, and because you are confused, you throw out words like "strange" or "contradictory".
In every field of academics, science, or engineering, or business that involves new technology & new ideas, it is a rule of thumb, that people will find a Mormon that is pioneering the efforts of the research & development in that field.
Don't confuse faith with superstition.
The original Star Wars movies were produced by Gary Kurtz. Gary Kurtz is Mormon, & he had a huge effect on the spiritual mystical elements in those initial movies.
Whether it is Disney or Marriott, or the Huntsman Corporation, or other companies that are doing cutting edge r & d, it is Mormon owned companies & Mormon engineers and scientist that time and again are making the major breakthroughs, and all of this usually happens silently behind the scenes.
If you want to know more about THE Church Of JESUS CHRIST Of Latter Day Saints, then contact your local LDS Missionaries who will meet with you, and give you lessons about the true Gospel Of Jesus Christ.
This way you will find out specifically why it is that Mormons who are clearly not irrational, and in fact are the pioneers of the rational, believe in an "irrational religion". Because it is not irrational, as you will find out, after a few lessons, Mormonism is completely logical & rational. Mormonism is the most ultimately rational philosophy that there is.
Rational logic is what Mormons are all about.