Why did the people of Ammonihah burn their own wives and children?

Alma 14 contains the heart-breaking story of how the followers of Nehor, or rather, the practitioners of priestcraft, decided to burn their own wives and children for their beliefs.

To recap, the teachings of Nehor were basically that there was no sin. You can do whatever you like in this life, it is of no consequence since God will save everyone (so give me your money).

This sounds an awfully lot like the teachings being forced down our throats in popular culture today.

The consequence of these teachings are martyred women and children, murdered in a horrific way.

Why would people who preach there is no sin decide to burn people who thought differently? Wouldn't the teaching that all will be saved defuse any confrontation between belief systems? Apparently not.

What is it that led them to burn their religious adversaries? The answer is found in the words of the anonymous chief judge to Alma: "After what ye have seen, will ye preach again unto this people, that they shall be cast into a lake of fire and brimstone?"

To the adherents of Nehor, the idea that there is sin is the most horrific idea of all. Those who teach such an idea are the enemy in their eyes. And so we see things today such as chaplains being fired because they believe that there is still sin in the world and that we are not free to do whatever we like with our bodies. http://townhall.com/columnists/toddstarnes/2015/08/11/the-christian-purge-has-begun-chaplains-banned-from-preaching-that-homosexuality-is-a-sin-n2037723 The threat to Nehor's teachings is that people acknowledge the existence of sin and evil, and acknowledge an accountability to the Highest Authority. You cannot escape sin by redefining it. You cannot escape sin by hoping it will all just go away one day.

What restrains our actions is not a belief that it's all going to be OK. To the people of Ammonihah, I wonder if they believed that killing their own wives and children would lead to any eternal consequences. Perhaps they thought that since there were no spiritual repercussions, only the political or economical mattered. This sounds an awfully lot like the world we live in today. No one seems to care what God has to say about anything anymore. Instead, we are focused like a laser on the political or economic situation, more than willing to sacrifice a little bit of our conscience here and there to earn a few dollars or see our political faction make a few gains.

Instead, what restrains our actions and leads to a civil society where people actually respect one another and help each other rather than looking for ways to have each other die in a fire is the idea that we are held accountable for our decisions, there are certain actions that are absolutely forbidden by God, and we will be held to account to Him one day. Concordant with this idea is the idea that forgiveness is possible with sincere repentance, a turning back to the Ideal. Alma's TL;DR of Alma 13 was basically: "Don't harden your hearts. Repent. It will be OK if you do. If you don't, absolute destruction."

Let's keep that in mind. The secret to peace in this world lies in our doctrines. Our teachings carry the seed that will blossom into mutual understanding and respect. The teachings of Nehor lead to people being burned in a fire.