You said: "But it seems there is contradiction even in our Bible/Religion."

All religions except maybe the aggnostic believes in some form of spirit afterlife and a good vs evil.

It is my belief that if there are contridiction within our Christian beliefs/Bible/Religion it is because we as human beings mearly do not fully understand all these things. And I have said that I do not understand any of this.

But I am of the firm conviction that there are NO Contridiction in God's plan for man. And his plan is very clear you either are his child, or you are not. John 3:16 is not all inclusive. There is a dividing line drawen in the phrase 'whosoever believes' recieves the promise.

You said: "I have been at scenes of violent deaths and felt what I thought was the spirit lingering, an eerie silence. I have been at the scene of peaceful deaths and felt nothing. Could the Battlefields fall into the violent death criteria?"

I also have been in the same serious situation of life and death. And know what you are talking about. I personally have been in situations in which I should not have survived and would not have, had a physical hand not held me back. And that was strange because there was no one else physically present. I have even heard a very real voice saying "Boy, STOP!" when I was in danger and did not realize the danger. I was again by myself at the time.

I can't explain any of that except to say that I must have had a guardian angel riding on my shoulder. So I do believe in spirits being present on this earth. But why they are here is less certain to me.

To me it would seem that some spirits are here for a purpose at the will of God. I have this opinion because the Bible clearly states that some spirits have returned to do God's will as in Moses, Samuel and several other prophets. But, why other spirits are here is still another matter.

You asked: "Could the Battlefields fall into the violent death criteria?"

I think it is more the relationship of the soul to God at the time of death, than it has to do with the kind of violent death suffered. If it were because of the violence as a determining factor then we would have multitudes of legions of "ghost" on Battlefields and almost every murder victum and a lot of deaths from auto crashes and fires and on and on.

Why there would be 25,000 "ghost" on the Sharpsburg/Antietum battlefield alone, and many more at Gettysburg if that were the only factor. Yet we speak of these incidents as a single spirit in this building or that. An errie feeling here or there. Or maybe even a Company marching across a field. Not Battalions, or Regiments, or Brigades, or Divisions, or Corps, which surely there were that many that died in horrible manners.

You know it would be a terrible thing, if you believe in a soul, to die and be caught in a situation where you are wandering around in a house, or on a battlefield, or any place else for the rest of eternity. This is why I look upon these things as maybe "being in Torment".

Maybe this is where our Catholic friends get their doctrine about Pregatory. A place that is not Heaven, but is not life as we know it, and yet is not the full wrath of Hell, which is to come, either.