I see nothing wrong with that posistion
Justification comes AFTER motivation.
People can (and do) use ANY 'cause', ANY ideology the same way.
It's not the religion.
It's the people.
I see nothing wrong with that posistion as long as you apply it consistantly. If nothing bad can be attributed to religion because the people where that way anyway, then nothing good can be attributed to religion either. Religion becomes nothing more then a set of empty gestures you go through once a week because you don't like sleeping in Sunday.
As far as I can tell the truth is much more complex. Not all people that say they are motivated by religion really are. Some are simply telling the tale they need to get people to go along, others have picked or created a religion based on it approving what they where going to do anyway.
But not all of them, some of them really do have faith. No matter how wrong you might think their beliefs, they are doing what they think is right. Nor is all the good done in the name of religion motivated by religion, many people working at religious charities would still be doing charitable work if the religion did not exist.
In many cases it is even more complex then that. People motivations and beliefs do change over time. Many preachers seem to wander between really believing in themselves and faking it. In other cases people join a church because it is convenient, only to find themselves caught up in the church's posistion, for good or evil.
Religion can be a motivation for good or evil, but people tend to attribute either to much or to little. In general religion is neither the primary motivator nor is it negligable. For any specific person, you must consider the deapth of their faith to see if it is true or not.
Jay