Invoking God's name

According to the Bible, Moses told his people that God told him to go in and take the Middianites land and to slaughter every man, woman, and child. In fact Moses became very angry when he found out his army did not kill all of them. So he said to kill every woman who had “known a man” and give those who had not “known a man” to his soldiers to do with as they pleased. This is shocking I know, but it happens time and again in the Bible. The Israelites claim God told them to take this or that land and so they go in, kill all the men, women, and children and take their land.
Our own government uses God’s name to justify its actions. When our country was expanding, our government decided it was our “God-given right” to steal half of Mexico so we could have two coast-lines. We called it Manifest Destiny.
We used religion to deculturalize the native Americans and Hispanics.
President Bush (#43) used religion often to stir up support for his war in Iraq, spewing statements such as, “democracy is God’s gift to the world.” During that same war General William Boyking, while making a public speech before a church congregation (in his military uniform), very blatantly said, “this is a religious war,” and, “our god is greater than their god.” Although this further fanned the flames of hatred for America in middle-eastern nations, he was never punished for this. Why?
Time and again politicians use religion for votes. Why do we accept that as okay? Why don’t we stand up and say “Shut up about religion!”