That seemed clear when I first learned of European imperialism. We learned about Spanish conquest of the new world, we would study their reasons for going to the west. Quoting the period they would say they needed to spread religion, but also that there happened to be a fabled city of gold that they had to find. It's no different today. Authoritarian governments will use whatever means to spread their culture and dominance. Religion is a convenient tool, if properly studied though how can it actually justify any atrocities? Every major religion has specific guidelines about not killing innocent people, not doing 'evil', helping the needy, etc.