From what paradox did the Salem tragedy develop?

The Puritans were very religious and tried to avoid the devil and evil works as much as possible. The paradox is that these very serious and religious people could be duped into believing a group of young girls and allow themselves to be taken in by their lies and actions. The girls actions also allow long simmering disputes that should have been forgiven or dealt with to come to the surface and become the motive for accusations of witchcraft that had nothing to do with the original dispute. For example, Giles Corey was convinced that Thomas Putnam is taking advantage of the trials in order to obtain more land. When Corey is accused of witchcraft, he allows himself to be crushed to death by his accusers rather than "confess" and have his land taken by Putnam. All of this devilish behavior was supposedly committed in order to get the devil out of Salem. Instead, the evil lead to the innocent deaths of at least 19 people.