There's a reason I'm an atheist. But yeah, religion gets misused a lot. Karl Marx said that religion is the opiate of the masses -- I'm not sure that opiates are the right drug, but religion does get used to justify some incredible acts of cruelty that no sober person would do after well-considered reflection.

"God told me to" might be a good plea for insanity if you're convicted of a crime, but what can you do if "God told us to" is the reasoning behind a country's laws?

Nothing. You're screwed.

And that is why I believe in the separation of church & state.