In God's Name

In my opinion, I think that something important about religion is that it makes people more secure in life and death. It also gives them something to look up to, something to believe in. The article "In God's Name" states that religion has a very powerful influence in economics and politics. Religion has and can be used to manipulate and control others; it's an effective politcal and commercial tool as evidenced by the historic records of religious wars. But when religious leaders of the world are engaged in preaching hate and intolerance against other religious belief systems, isn't it obvious that people would question the purpose of God? I mean, I thought religion was just a concept that makes people believe in other positive secular things.