Why does the Bible have to be so long-winded and difficult to decipher when it is used to explain straightforward, simple things such as morality and respect?
Trust in the motivations of the people who have translated this ancient document and in those who originally transcribed the word-of-mouth stories is misplaced. They seem an awful wide chasm between Christians and the basis of their spirituality. Ever play the children's game telephone? The story always changes beyond recognition by the time it is whispered to the final person.
For me, the lessons from the Bible which make the most sense and are most applicable to the modern world should be kept, and the rest ought to be tossed out. None of the lessons should be so rigid as to not adapt. Clinging to a bunch of stories and worrying about the details of the stories is not productive and is nothing that will ever achieve a consensus. The lessons are the point, not who begat who.
What is the point of caring whether or not Jesus is God's only Son? From where I sit, this is a contention which only results in divisiveness. The very point of such a claim is to divide. Is that what Jesus would have wanted?
I'm an agnostic who hasn't read the Bible, so these are just surface impressions.