Well, that is very sad. Fortunately the stories are purposely bloody, harsh and demeaning to make points, not to recount history in a modern factual manner. Its historical in the way that Remus and Romulus were historical for Romans. . . .
Ask yourself why anyone would revere for thousands of years a book about killing? No one would, nor would Jesus. Consider that Jesus 'Fights' and wages 'War' in the NT, but it is more clearly a war of peace. In the book Revelation a sword comes out of Jesus mouth. This concept of 'Waging peace not war' is not a new usage but an old one. Jesus didn't invent it. I think its a reveal of the way Moses fought his wars.
Bible historians will tell you that the Old Testament records a very violent and bloody history. Jews slew Midianite children without remorse; they took over Midianite lands and wells because "god told them" that the land belonged to them. They destroyed over 60 towns and villages and killed all the inhabitants in a land grab. And this is only one instance; I could name hundreds.
You cannot say that the Bible wrote these stories merely to teach others not to be violent. It is a history of a very violent and bloody people, and they did not advocate peace in the sense that you and I think of peace. They advocated peace only for those who were part of their people or who would submit to their people's domination.
As far as your assertion that no one would believe a book about killing, on the contrary, millions do. But the vast majority of Christians have never read the Bible cover to cover and do not know all of the history revealed in it. I was a Christian education director and Sunday School teacher for 20+ years before I actually read the Bible cover to cover. Before that, I "cherry-picked" the parts I liked, as did my teachers in catechism class.
It was only after I actually read it all that I began to doubt my faith. I think that if every Christian on Earth were to do the same, many would cringe. In fact, according to Christianity Today, a conservative Christian magazine, many people are doing just that. They reported, with alarm, that if current trends continue, as many as 80 percent of all children born to Christian parents today will leave the Christian faith by age 29. (Nov. 2009 issue.) That's a very sobering number.
Christianity is one of the few faiths that are losing followers worldwide, while Paganism, Wicca, Muslim, Buddhist and even Atheism are gaining followers. Hinduism is maintaining its membership. Less than one-third of all people in the world are currently Christians. With the world becoming a smaller and smaller place and with Christian numbers dropping, it won't be long before more Christians start wondering what it is that they actually believe.
You are right in that the Bible contains a great deal of fiction, but the violence recorded is, for the most part, accurate to history. Even devout Christian scholars do accept that as fact. Let's face it; people were barbarians back then, and Moses is no exception. (Of course, most of the things attributed to Moses were actually written much, much later by someone else, so it's hard to know exactly what he did. The books attributed to Moses are now known to have been written many centuries later. Linguists have studied the language patterns and determined that.)
Despite all of this, the Bible contains many beautiful things, and Jesus said many beautiful things as well. However, he told the people that he did not come to change the law, but rather, fulfill it. He also said that he was one with the Father, and, if you take the Father to actually be the person written about in the Old Testament, this means that Jesus is part of a very violent, jealous god trinity. The God of the old testament, if you read it in its entirety, comes across as an unforgiving, bigoted, jealous murdering tyrant, not a loving father. And he often tells his children to do contemptible things. That is not to "teach" them the value of non-violence. That is done to secure their place as dominant leaders in their area, and to subjugate all who will not bow to their will. The Bible, therefore, is an extremely violent book, and yes, people do believe in it.
