Religion will be the death of us.

The US has pledged to send a modest military team to Iraq. They are needed to help the beleaguered, mainly Shia, Iraqui administration against the marauding Sunni extremists, ISIS,  intent on establishing a new Caliphate under Sharia law in the region. Obama, in making the decision was mindful not to demonstrate any preferment of one strain of Islam over another.
In the West, Governments are meant to function outside of religious constraints but it is a property of Islam that there is no such distinction because submission to God governs every facet of life.
So! Why the hell is it that a secular Government is called upon to settle a religious division? Why cannot the religious leaders sort the mess out for themselves?  Surely they have God on their side!
Or do they? Isn't it time the world has a grown-up debate about the role of religions in the life of people. People in power side-step the issue all the time, nervous of offending demographic sensibilities but with millions dying and being displaced throughout the world as a result of religious conflict, isn't it time that someone said enough is enough. Let us stop pussyfooting about and demand that the religions come clean on their roles in society or be proscribed. This includes Christianity in all its forms, remembering that in the first millenium after Christ, Orthodox followers observed their devotions in a manner, such as full prostration during prayer, later copied by Muslims. Muslims believe in the Old Testament Patriarchs and revere Jesus as a prophet so why is it that so many people around the world are being slaughtered in the name of God? If God is all powerful and Merciful, surely He should address the problem, not a mere mortal, even if he is the leader of the most powerful nation on earth.