The not so silent period

We look at the "silent period" between the words of the Prophet Malachi and the life of Jesus.  In particular, we see that a few books that many Christians consider to be "apocryphal", the Maccabee books, give us tremendous insight into what was going on in Jerusalem and surrounding areas during the time of Jesus.  We see Jews fighting Jews because some of them had abandoned their God and become Hellenized.  We consider the New Covenant, with Jesus ordering us to love God and to love others and to no longer be violent - and how this has not come true.  Christians have been very violent over the centuries since the life of Jesus.  Why is this?  How do we change this?