sound of the anything

I was reading scripture the other night, and the thing that was crossing my mind the whole time I was reading (and that I've thought about many other times before while reading scripture), was how absolutely violent ancient times were. Violence is something that I am vehemently against. I don't think there should be any need for wars, holy or not, and because of that, I do not support the war there currently is or ever was. Now, don't think me unpatriotic. I love my country (usually) and all the freedoms it affords me. And I am very grateful to those who fought and lost their lives for my freedom. The thing that I abhor is the fact that we ever NEEDED a war to get that freedom. Contention is of the devil, correct? So why, oh why, is the majority of scripture WAR?! It's what makes reading the scriptures the most difficult for me. I understand the concepts; fighting for what you believe in and what is right and good. And I also understand that they fought so that we could have the scripture that we do today. But I have a difficult time reading about it. I am a person who avoids confrontation at all costs, which is both good and bad. It means that I am very guarded with my feelings, because I get hurt easily, and feel very deeply. It also means that fighting and competition are things that I do not, nor will ever, understand. Pitting yourself against an opponent or enemy is something the world tends to focus on, which in my opinion is why sports are so popular. I'm not knocking sports (well, maybe a little), but people start to miss what the point should be - to better oneself physically and technically. It becomes all about the competition and proving you are better than someone else. I think this is a large reason that I prefer the arts. They focus on the individual, and on the skills themselves, the things that sports largely misses for the most part. So I don't get it. I don't like contests, I don't like competition, I don't like trying to prove that I am better than someone else. I want to prove to myself that I can be better than I currently am - for myself. No one else really factors in (except maybe God). So back to my anti-violence rant. I think the epitome of senseless violence is the Civil War (Katie, please don't hate me. I know it's your favorite era). Brothers fighting against brothers and people dying for someone else's opinion. They weren't fighting for their country, they were BOTH fighting for what they thought was the right thing. There are two sides to every war, and both think they are justified. And rationally, they are. So who is right, and who is good? The winner? I don't know that this is true. Just because the losers had less people, or fell into certain circumstances, doesn't mean they weren't correct in their belief. Because a belief is right, no matter what it is. It is something that matters to that person, specifically, and that is what's true and good. But not worth shedding another's blood over. I don't believe that anything is worth that. Because what does it achieve in the end? A false sense of superiority and rightness? Crushing someone else's life force or belief should never be justified, especially through warfare. So what is up with this war crap? Love your brothers and sisters for who THEY are and what they stand for. No matter what race, religion, or class. Why is that so difficult?