Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told ministry students at her former church that the United States sent troops to fight in the Iraq war on a "task that is from God."
All I know is that when religion gets involved in wars and dictating what's "right" using violence...it goes hardcore.
A sad truth that has been illustrated throughout history time and again;
Whenever someone tells you to kill or give your life for God, it usually has nothing to do with God and everything to do with politics.
The proof is in the pudding. If the person who is telling you to die for God puts their money where their mouth is and does that very thing, then there is a good chance they actually believe that the cause truly is mandated by God, however bloody and contrary to scriptures it may be...... "love your neighbour as yourself?" psshaw, they REALLY meant to say "go into other countries, take what we want, and stomp the fuck out of anyone who gets in our way!"
If, however, they tell you to die for God or kill for God yet remain out of the line of danger, the truth is exposed. Time and again we hear the same old line:
"I believe in this cause but my contribution is to stay back and support our troops here at home. Oh, and my family and kids can also better contribute by staying back here. Now go and give your life because God wants you to"
We see this replicated throughout history in most religions and cultural groups. Very rarely will you see a suicide bomber who is part of leadership in a resistance or insurgent group go out and blow themselves up. Although from time to time there is a true believer who does this, more often than not the ones blowing themselves up are poor, uneducated folks who were embraced by one of a multitude of groups, given inclusion and a host of other perks that someone in their lot has never encountered before (a sense of belonging, purpose, etc) then the very leadership that they look up to as near-deities tell them that God wants them to do actions x,y and z. It could be killing someone, or blowing yourself up, or kidnapping and torturing someone. The act doesn't matter. The fact that someone who is looked to as a parental-type authority figure has told them God wills it is all that is needed.
And the kicker?
We do exactly the same thing. Only our version is more sanitized, more palatable and a pill that is much easier to swallow thanks to modern media wizardry and psychology. We also like to smooth things out by dressing up the reality of a situation with fancy words:
Torture becomes "coercive interrogation techniques"
Civillians murdered become "collateral damage"
Note I use the word murder. Generally speaking, the term "killing" is used when someone who is endangering you or has the capacity to fight back is killed. Murder is when you kill someone who has no capacity to harm you or fight back.
