You haven't known many crazies, have you?
The fact that someone claims to hear voices in their head doesn't mean anything. Heck, I hear voices in my head - they say whatever I want them to. (I sometimes mentally rehearse an interaction, and while rehearsing it, I am able to choose to "hear" the whole interaction play out however I want it to.)
What marks someone as crazy is what the voices in their head say about the world. It doesn't tend to be subtle. And it does get in the way of their functioning.
Let's compare, for instance, your average paranoid schizophrenic with Larry Wall, devout Christian. Both are somewhat odd. (Have you seen pictures of how Larry dresses?) But the religious person is able to function in the world, talk at length making some sort of sense, can navigate where he wants to, and generally seems to be a fairly competent human being. Regardless of whether you or I agrees with his beliefs.
By contrast paranoid schizophrenics tend to wind up believing that they have to save the world. In the USA that tends to mean either they have a mission to kill the US president or to blow up the UN. Of the ones who try to blow up the UN, most do not manage to exit the train station without being taken into custody. (They draw attention with their muttering, confusion, and inability to conduct a coherent conversation.)
Now those are extreme examples, but the principle holds. Crazy people tend to be pretty obviously non-functional in society. Religious people tend to get along about as well as non-religious people. While I disagree with both groups, having dealt with members of both, it is pretty easy to recognize the difference.
Cheers,
Ben
PS I was born a Ward as well. My mother changed our names. He chose to change his back for personal reasons.
