Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-27157999-20160710144119/@comment-26896471-20160710200432

Independence for Skyrim is the best thing, it's resources are being diverted to prop up a dead Empire. The Civil War is merely a symptom of the Skyrim/Empire split, not the cause.

Ideally, however, this would have been achieved not through Civil War, but through peaceful succession by Torygg. It is strongly suggested that had he been pushed to, he would have done it.

On a side note, at no point do the Stormcloaks invoke the will of a god. They're fighting for religious freedom yes, but they're not killing in his name. You will find no quotes to the contrary.