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The Bible has been through a billion translations, was written and compiled by a ton of random people, and is thousands of years old. Obviously, it's not applicable as the "infallible Word of God" that hardcore Christians claim. The fact that it's so ambiguous in places and apparently contradictory, which it is--even if it can all be explained, it's technically a flaw in itself. If it were the flawless word of God as it were intended for today, and yesterday like pbradley said, there would be no need for debate--it would say what it needed to say to our culture without the need for an elaborate school of arguing theologians.
I think the Jesus part of the Bible is a legitimate outline for living a good life, and I personally believe that he was divine, for my own reasons, but it's not a set of make-or-break laws. It's healthy to talk about right and wrong, and sort out your life, to try to be selfless and all that, but the majority of Christians miss the point entirely and today it often does more harm than good.
I have a ton of Christian friends who "don't hate gays, but don't agree with their lifestyle," (aka they're judgmental bastards who want to think they're still good people) and that's about what I say to them when they try to justify hating homosexuals. They usually respond with something like, "But the Bible says blah blah blah." It's a brick wall with this shit.
Gays are great and from how I've read the Bible, I think Jesus would agree. I don't need to argue about what Paul "really meant" to form an opinion. So whatever.
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