Alexander Dolitsky: Distinguishing holy war from secular conflict

By ALEXANDER DOLITSKY

 June 10, 2026 – Note: This article is a follow-up to “Core Values of Five Major World Religions,” published in The Alaska Story on June 5, 2026. It addresses and clarifies the key questions, feedback, and perspectives shared by The Alaska Story’s engaged readers.

The Intertwined Nature of Conflict

Contemporary historians frequently challenge the traditional division between sacred and secular warfare. Many historical conflicts categorized as “religious”—such as the Crusades (nine major Crusades between 1095 and 1291 A.D.) and the European Wars of Religion (a series of devastating conflicts waged across the continent from 1517 to 1648 A.D., sparked by the Protestant Reformation)—were fundamentally driven by dynastic ambitions, economic motives, and geopolitical rivalry. In these instances, religious ideology often functioned as a mechanism to galvanize public support for inherently secular and political objectives.

A religious war is a conflict primarily caused, justified, or fueled by differing religious doctrines, sacred obligations, or belief systems. Unlike secular wars (which are fought strictly for territorial, economic, or political gain), religious wars frame violence as a moral imperative. In short, these conflicts frame violence as a divine or moral duty. The nuances separating religious wars from other types of warfare include the following characteristics:

Primary Drivers and Justifications

Religious Wars: The war is justified by spiritual decrees (e.g., converting unbelievers, defending holy sites, or fulfilling perceived divine commands). The goal is often the preservation or expansion of a specific religious worldview.

Secular Wars: Justified by geopolitics, secular resources (e.g., oil, trade routes), nationalist identity, or ideologies (e.g., democracy vs. communism).

Stakes and Objectives

Religious Wars: Stakes are generally perceived as absolute and cosmic. Compromise is difficult because parties believe they are fighting for eternal truth or spiritual salvation. The enemy is sometimes demonized as an existential threat to the faith itself; these wars are not negotiable.

Secular Wars: Stakes are usually material and pragmatic. Objectives involve tangible bargaining, such as redrawing borders, installing friendly leadership, or acquiring territory, which makes diplomatic negotiations and peace treaties more straightforward.

The Roots of Sectarian Conflicts

Major religious wars are primarily driven or justified by religious differences, doctrines, or the desire to defend or spread a specific faith. While most historical conflicts involve overlapping political and economic motives, the following major religious wars were deeply rooted in sectarian or religious divides.

The Roman-Jewish Wars (66–135 CE): A series of major revolts by the Jews of the Judaea province against the Roman Empire, sparked by the clash between traditional Jewish monotheism and Roman polytheism/imperial cults. 

The Crusades (1096–1291): A series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period, primarily aimed at recovering the Holy Land from Islamic rule.

The French Wars of Religion (1562–1598): A devastating civil conflict in France between French Catholics and Protestant Huguenots. It was marked by intense political maneuvering and massacres, such as the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre.

The Eighty Years’ War (1568–1648): Also known as the Dutch War of Independence, this conflict saw the Protestant-leaning Low Countries fight to break free from the rule of the devoutly Catholic King Philip II of Spain.

The Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648): Fought primarily in Central Europe, this was one of the most destructive conflicts in human history. It began as a battle between Protestant and Catholic states in the Holy Roman Empire before developing into a broader political war.

The Wars of the Three Kingdoms (1638–1651): A complex series of interlocking civil wars across England, Scotland, and Ireland. While primarily political, these wars were deeply fueled by sectarian divides between Puritans, Anglicans, Presbyterians, and Catholics.

The Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864): A massive civil war in China waged between the established Qing dynasty and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, a millenarian Christian movement led by Hong Xiu Quan, who claimed to be the brother of Jesus Christ.

The American Civil War (1861–1865) was driven by political, constitutional, and economic conflicts over slavery and states’ rights; yet it evolved into a deeply religious struggle. Both the Union and Confederacy heavily used faith and theology to claim divine sanction and frame their causes as Holy.

The Long Shadow of Epic Fury

While the today’s conflict with Iran is primarily rooted in geopolitics, regional influence, deterrence of Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and military strategy, it is frequently framed and justified through a religious lens by leaders on both sides—Iran on one side and Israel and the U.S. on the other. The religious and ideological dynamics of the war vary depending on the perspective:

U.S. and Israeli Framing: On the U.S. and Israeli side, the conflict has been occasionally cast in theological terms. Certain U.S. officials and military commanders have invoked biblical scripture and apocalyptic end-times prophecies to justify the war, framing it as a spiritual battle or a fulfillment of divine design. For example, complaints collected by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) reveal that over 100 U.S. troops reported that commanders framing military operations against Iran as the fulfillment of the “End Times” and the return of Jesus.

Iranian Rhetoric: Iran’s government has long utilized religious ideology in its foreign policy, frequently framing the conflict against the U.S. and Israel as a religious and moral struggle against oppression.

Global Religious Opposition: Major religious leaders, such as Pope Leo XIV, have strongly pushed back against this framing, explicitly stating that the war does not meet the moral and ethical threshold of a “just war” and warning against the dangers of holy war rhetoric.

Arab State Perspective: Neighboring Arab governments have largely distanced themselves from framing the conflict as a religious “Holy War,” viewing it instead as a strategic and political matter to avoid triggering broader sectarian or regional instability.

Sacred vs. Secular: How to Identify the True Motives of War

Distinguishing between religious and secular wars requires looking at the stated justifications, the primary goals of the combatants, and the nature of the opposing sides. Modern historians, however, note that the two often overlap, and a genuine religious wars are exceedingly rare. Below are key criteria to analyze and distinguish the two types of conflicts.

1. Primary Goals and Objectives

Religious Wars: The conflict is primarily driven or justified by theological differences, the expansion of a faith, the defense of sacred sites, or the suppression of “heresy.” The ultimate victory involves securing religious dominance or aligning a society with perceived divine laws.

Secular Wars: The war aims to achieve territorial expansion, resource control (e.g., oil, trade routes), nationalist autonomy, or political hegemony.

2. Nature of the Combatants

Religious Wars: Opposing factions are usually defined by their theological identity (e.g., Protestant vs. Catholic during the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648), or Sunni vs. Shia centuries-long geopolitical and religious divide stemming from the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632 C.E. The allegiance of fighters is primarily to a religious leader or a cosmic doctrine, transcending normal geopolitical boundaries.

Secular Wars: Opposing factions are defined by nationality, political ideology, or economic class. Combatants fight for a secular entity like a state, an empire, or a political movement (e.g., World War I, World War II, or the Cold War).

3. Identity and Mobilization

Religious Wars: Leaders mobilize their populations using spiritual rhetoric. War aims are framed as fulfilling a sacred duty or defending a holy way of life.

Secular Wars: Leaders mobilize populations using civic rhetoric. They appeal to national pride, self-determination, democratic ideals, or geopolitical survival.

The author was born and raised in the former Soviet Union before settling in the U.S. in 1978. He moved to Juneau in 1986 where he taught Russian studies and Archaeology at the University of Alaska Southeast, and Social Studies Teacher at the Alyeska Central School of the Alaska Department of Education. From 1990 to 2022, he served as a director and president of the Alaska-Siberia Research Center, publishing in the fields of anthropology, history, archaeology and ethnography. Find him on Amazon.com.

Alexander Dolitsky: Core values of five major world religions