Agreed. I was not exonerating the crusaders... in cases like that, I think both particular humans and their religious doctrine are to blame.

In that example, religion is guilty for providing explicit grounds and justification for atrocities, and a lot of humans are guilty as well for not challenging those rules and using them to justify their own barbarism, and turn it into divine command.

Reversely, one could say that in our example humans are innocent because they are mere puppets of a religious doctrine, or that religion is not to be blamed because humans are a bunch of mindless savage twats.

But I think the first position is not just closer to what actually happens, it's also a better way for improvement. We are liable, doctrines are liable. Now, let's see what can we do to improve either, etc.