# History - When did Wars Fought in the Name of Christianity End? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 22, 2015, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-when-did-wars-fought-in-the-name-of-christianity-end/720580 "2015-05-22T12:04:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Clarence01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@Clarence01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clarence01)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-when-did-wars-fought-in-the-name-of-christianity-end/720580/1 "2015-05-22T12:04:13Z")
Christianity (the body of people at large not the religion per se) at some point became more tolerant of other religions (to the extent of not murdering outsiders). When did wars fought in the name of Christianity end? What year was it? After Spain finished colonizing all the land around the globe? And what are some guesses as to why it happened? Dawn of new technology? I am trying to draw parallels to Islam today, and see if it is likely that Islam will become tolerant of other religions. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-when-did-wars-fought-in-the-name-of-christianity-end/720580/2 "2015-05-22T12:09:29Z")
They ended? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-when-did-wars-fought-in-the-name-of-christianity-end/720580/3 "2015-05-22T12:54:57Z")
All sarcasm aside, the killings by/for Christianity largely ended as and when states became secular - from the American and French Revolutions onwards, basically. Blame the Enlightenment, not any tech. And Islam _used to be_ plenty tolerant of other religions. There’s no siingle upwards evolutionary trend there, I think. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-when-did-wars-fought-in-the-name-of-christianity-end/720580/4 "2015-05-22T13:00:30Z")
There is still Christian terrorism, such as the IRA and anti-abortionists. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-when-did-wars-fought-in-the-name-of-christianity-end/720580/5 "2015-05-22T13:37:18Z")
Snark aside - 1648. The Peace of Westphalia pretty much put an end to the religious wars in Europe, at least on any large scale. The Thirty Years War was the last major war where religion was the pretext. _ **Porthos:** Why are we shooting these poor devils of Protestants? Is it because they sing psalms in French while we sing them in Latin? **Aramis:** Porthos, have you no education? What do you think religious wars are all about?_ ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-when-did-wars-fought-in-the-name-of-christianity-end/720580/6 "2015-05-22T13:42:02Z")
The IRA? They’re not killing anyone _in the name of_ Catholicism. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-when-did-wars-fought-in-the-name-of-christianity-end/720580/7 "2015-05-22T13:49:58Z")
There is an unpleasant amount of anti-Islamic, pro-Christian evangelism behind US military involvement in the Middle East _today_. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-when-did-wars-fought-in-the-name-of-christianity-end/720580/8 "2015-05-22T13:52:15Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > There is still Christian terrorism, such as the IRA and anti-abortionists. No reasonable person would classify IRA actions as “Christian terrorism”. You might as well classify the PLO actions as “Muslim terrorism”. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-when-did-wars-fought-in-the-name-of-christianity-end/720580/9 "2015-05-22T13:52:17Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Snark aside - 1648. The Peace of Westphalia pretty much put an end to the religious wars in Europe, at least on any large scale. The Thirty Years War was the last major war where religion was the pretext. I’d argue that the [Ottoman–Habsburg wars](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman%E2%80%93Habsburg_wars), then still ongoing, would still fit the bill, which would move the closure to 1791. That particular set of conflicts was definitely religious in origin even if not really such by the conclusion. Subsequent Europe-Turk conflicts being more secular in origin, but I’d argue that one was the last hurrah for the old Crusade impetus in Europe. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-when-did-wars-fought-in-the-name-of-christianity-end/720580/10 "2015-05-22T13:55:30Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > No reasonable person would classify IRA actions as “Christian terrorism”. > > You might as well classify the PLO actions as “Muslim terrorism”. Better words are \*Christianist \*and _Islamist_ - actions done in the name of religions but without a sound actual basis in their teachings. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-when-did-wars-fought-in-the-name-of-christianity-end/720580/11 "2015-05-22T14:39:03Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Better words are \*Christianist \*and _Islamist_ - actions done in the name of religions but without a sound actual basis in their teachings. Neither organization did squat in the name of religions. Hell, the (main) IRA was a Marxist organization, FFS. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-when-did-wars-fought-in-the-name-of-christianity-end/720580/12 "2015-05-22T14:44:44Z")
The IRA _wasn’t/isn’t_ primarily a Catholic group committing terrorism against Protestants? Yes, there was a lot of Irish nationalism involved, but it was on the basis of religious identification, right? Learn something new every day, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-when-did-wars-fought-in-the-name-of-christianity-end/720580/13 "2015-05-22T14:51:27Z")
> [@Clarence01](#): > > Christianity (the body of people at large not the religion per se) at some point became more tolerant of other religions (to the extent of not murdering outsiders). When did wars fought in the name of Christianity end? What year was it? After Spain finished colonizing all the land around the globe? And what are some guesses as to why it happened? Dawn of new technology? > > I am trying to draw parallels to Islam today, and see if it is likely that Islam will become tolerant of other religions. Much of the hostility in the former Yugoslavia broke down to division between groups that identified themselves as Christian or Muslim. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-when-did-wars-fought-in-the-name-of-christianity-end/720580/14 "2015-05-22T15:02:49Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > Much of the hostility in the former Yugoslavia broke down to division between groups that identified themselves as Christian or Muslim. Weren’t there cultural differences that were also separate from the religious ones? I mean, there had to be a way to tell that a group were Bosniaks vs. Bosnian Serbs vs. Bosnian Croats without pestering them with religious questions. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-when-did-wars-fought-in-the-name-of-christianity-end/720580/15 "2015-05-22T15:31:16Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > The IRA _wasn’t/isn’t_ primarily a Catholic group committing terrorism against Protestants? Yes, there was a lot of Irish nationalism involved, but it was on the basis of religious identification, right? Do you understand that there’s a difference between “A Catholic group” and “A group of Catholics”? > [@](#): > > Learn something new every day, I guess. Hopefully… ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-when-did-wars-fought-in-the-name-of-christianity-end/720580/16 "2015-05-22T15:55:25Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Do you understand that there’s a difference between “A Catholic group” and “A group of Catholics”? Of course. But isn’t sectarianism behind the nationalism they have always stood for? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-when-did-wars-fought-in-the-name-of-christianity-end/720580/17 "2015-05-22T15:58:24Z")
Sometimes. Sometimes it’s the other way around. Most of the conflict in the last few centuries has been over economic factors, not exclusively religious ones. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-when-did-wars-fought-in-the-name-of-christianity-end/720580/18 "2015-05-22T16:04:23Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > There is an unpleasant amount of anti-Islamic, pro-Christian evangelism behind US military involvement in the Middle East _today_. Wait…you think that the US military involvement in the ME is primarily because of Christian evangelism?? You don’t think it has anything to do with economics or that oil stuff?? 😕 Because that’s what the OP is asking, i.e. ‘When did Wars Fought in the **Name** of Christianity End?’ (my emphasis). ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-when-did-wars-fought-in-the-name-of-christianity-end/720580/19 "2015-05-22T16:14:22Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Sometimes. Sometimes it’s the other way around. Most of the conflict in the last few centuries has been over economic factors, not exclusively religious ones. But weren’t most of the “religious” wars in the previous centuries really fought for the same reasons? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-when-did-wars-fought-in-the-name-of-christianity-end/720580/20 "2015-05-22T16:20:28Z")
Pretty much _every war_ has had an economic reason for starting. But since 1648 or so they pretty much stopped advertising the religious trappings as a motivation. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-when-did-wars-fought-in-the-name-of-christianity-end/720580.md?page=2)