holy wars
Faith-driven armed struggles
Holy wars are armed conflicts waged in the name of religion or religious duty—crusades, jihads, sectarian violence.
The term extends to any battle fought with religious fervor, even over secular matters: The debate over tabs versus spaces became a holy war among programmers.
The figurative use often implies disproportionate zeal over trivial disagreements.
- jihadsReligious military campaigns
- religiousOf faith or worship
- true believersUnwavering adherents to doctrine
- Albigensian CrusadeChurch war on Cathars
- CrusadesMedieval wars for Jerusalem
campaigns · martyrdom · sectarian violence · Reconquista · Knights Templar · eschatology · expeditions · sacred duty · Saladin · Jerusalem · struggles · papal authority · zealotry · Thirty Years' War · banner · heretic · Teutonic Knights · Christian soldiers
- Biblical warfarebattle, battles, war, armies, army
- church-statechurch-state, separation, church-state separation, establishment clause, religious accommodation
- religious conflictreligious war, sectarianism, Great Schism, crusade, schism
- religious diplomacyinterfaith dialogue, concordat, concordats, apostolic delegate, Vatican
- Medieval Eraknights, Middle Ages, castles, feudal lords, medieval period
- ancient diplomacyenvoys, ambassadors, emissaries, peace treaties, alliances
holy warsterritorial disputes
Conflicts over land ownership
resource wars · civil wars · trade wars · wars of conquest · colonial wars
holy warsecumenism
Movement toward religious unity
religious tolerance · interfaith dialogue · peaceful coexistence · religious pluralism · spiritual unity
holy warspacifism
Antiwar moral stance
nonviolent resistance · satyagraha · ahimsa · conscientious objection
holy, warfare, unholy, wars, holiness, warring, warlike, hallowed, warred