Were the Crusades a justified “religious” act?

The Crusades were a series of religious wars sanctioned by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The most commonly known Crusades are the campaigns in the Eastern Mediterranean aimed at recovering the Holy Land from Islamic rule but the term "Crusades" is also applied to other church-sanctioned campaigns.
Were the crusades totally necessary?; were they a justified religious act?; if god exists, would he approve this type of behavior?

SamuelFrench wrote:The Crusades were a series of religious wars sanctioned by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The most commonly known Crusades are the campaigns in the Eastern Mediterranean aimed at recovering the Holy Land from Islamic rule but the term "Crusades" is also applied to other church-sanctioned campaigns.
Were the crusades totally necessary?; were they a justified religious act?; if god exists, would he approve this type of behavior?

Well Samuel, I had thought about it for some months now and I believe I am now ready to answer. Crusades were done principally for conquering the Holly Land, which was occupied by people who didn’t have Christianism as religion. However, there are some other goals that were supposed to be achieved with these violent actions. Not only do people believe this was against Christianism, but they also believe the only purpose was the economic one, as the Pope and its religion would obtain much more power. As you know, this has been a hot potato during the history, and I am part of those who believe the Cruzades were non-sense and unnecessary, as they go against some of the rules imposed in Christianism. The first contradiction we can see is the idea of killing people and stealing from people, while a really important part of ten principal christian commandments (which are supossed to be followed) says that killing and stealing are sins. The second one is the exaggerated ambition present, as battling for land means a non-saciety of power, being this also contemplated by Christian rules. The people who were supporting this idea were as confused as a mosquitoe biting an statue.