Religion As A Weapon

Religion doesn't hurt anything? Is that a sick joke? Of course it does. Religion has been responsible for more wars, torture, and hurting of human beings than any other single thing (with the possible exception of greed). And it's still hurting people, even in this country -- a country that claims to believe in human rights and equality. For fundamentalists of every religion (including christianity), it is OK to discriminate (and sometimes even physically harm) those who do not agree with them.
It makes me wonder, how can someone believe in an all-powerful god and yet think that god's religion is so weak that it must be protected against criticism and non-believers? Does that even make sense? Is it really loving to use religion as a weapon?