religion has got nothing to do with GOD

I don't really understand this whole drive to separate religion and spirituality, to be honest. I know a lot of people don't like the word "religion" because it seems divisive, or because religions have been misused in the past. However, everything has been misused by someone before, and that doesn't mean those things should be thrown away. Should we get rid of kitchen knives because someone somewhere used one to harm someone else? I am a very religious person. I am also a very spiritual person. My spirituality is defined by the personal relationship I have with my Gods. My religion is define by the history of the worship of those Gods, by the ritual involved, by the holidays I celebrate, by the beliefs of my ancestors before me. I will not reject all those things just because they are "religion" as if it were some kind of dirty word. Just because religion can be misused does not make it bad, just as the kitchen knives I use to make dinner for my family aren't murder weapons just because someone somewhere might have used one to kill someone.