My thoughts, which is speculation, personal experience and in depth involvement in Bible studies from about age 14 to 24 are as such. I give them as much credibility as the average person. I'm certainly not claiming to be an expert here.

It feels like the Old Testament is hand book to survival for superstitious and simple people. "Don't eat pork. God doesn't want you to." Really? Perhaps, pork had parasites at that time that were deadly but, the people sending the message had to enter in a scare tactic to protect village people. "God doesn't want you to be gay. It is a horrific sin." Perhaps, populating the earth was critical at time when there were not a lot of people and little medical care. Was it Lot's wife who turned into a pillar of salt when she didn't listen to God's message? Would a reasonable God do that to someone? The men who were trying to protect the ark of the covenant died because they instinctively touched it when it was falling. Would a reasonable God really strike them dead? Yet, King David, could do just about anything and God always forgave him and loved him with great bias. It reminds me of the movie, The Village, in which scare tactics were used to "Protect" and entertain.

Skip to the New Testament, and it is gets different. Everyone suddenly has compassion and common sense. There is also a tremendous amount of insight into social issues we are seeing today. Revelations is mind blowing. So much of what was predicted there has happened and is continuing to. There are great lessons in the New Testament. I totally loved Apostle Paul. I do not believe I would have been the business woman that I came to be without his advice, although it had nothing to do with technology sales or femdom. Some things that are amazingly charming are lost in what is being taught. The stories about Peter and his relationship with Jesus and the other disciples is something that never makes it to Biblical movies. He was the Charlie Brown of the group. The story about him trying to walk on water is hilarious. Jesus was trying to teach him a lesson in a light hearted way. Can you imagine the other disciples laughing as Peter came trudging out of the water, laughing himself, like, "Okay. Now I get it." The New Testament was and still is dear to me. It seems the religious zealots fighting against gay marriage and filled with judgement, just don't get it. Jesus mention gay marriage exactly zero times. Grace, love and resisting the judgement of others were mentioned numerous times.

So, these are my personal feelings. I'm not demanding they are correct. To your original point, I agree there is room for error and misunderstanding in a book written so long ago and passed through so many hands. It is also impossible to read a chapter without taking a little history lesson. Who was the author? Who was he addressing? What was going on at the time? "Ladies don't talk in church," has many people believing that women shouldn't be in leadership roles. In fact, there was a problem with a group or women disrupting services by whispering to each other...in the same way that some people do in movie cinemas.

Anyway, my thoughts. I certainly don't claim to certain I am right.