People will do anything if some form of authority they have decided to obey without question tells them to.

Anything.

Consult the records of history for proof of that. It almost defies imagination what has been done by people obeying the authority of...

their leader
their superior officer
their mother/father/teacher
their president
their pastor
their doctor
their lawyer
their gang leader
their boss
their wife or husband
their party leader
their holy book
their political manifesto
their local officialdom
their club policy
their "friends"
etc.

To incessantly blame it all (or practically all) on religion simply indicates that one has a serious emotional problem regarding the issue of religion, and should probably seek some kind of counseling to deal with it.