Religion and My Philosophy

Day before yesterday I took out the old Bible and dusted it off. I've decided that I've been remiss in performing my Christian duties, mostly to be honest, because I couldn't be bothered.
I remember having a great deal of faith in God as a child. I think when people are younger they find it easier to believe without question in the existence of God, the truth of your holy texts and the supremacy of your priests. Then as you start to grow, you find yourself questioning what you've always believed, what to the rational mind seems impossible, and trying to reconcile the line between religion and science.
I remember being very young and being thoroughly mystified sitting in class while my teacher very scientifically explained how the universe, the stars, the sun, the earth, humans and all living creatures came to be over millions of years..... as far as I knew, all it took was 6 days! So I came racing home to ask my mother (who was the supreme source of all knowledge in my eyes) how this could be possible since the BIBLE tells us God made the earth in 6 days... I'm not sure what she said to me... but I don't think it was a satisfactory answer, because I was confused about it for some time to come... But eventually as I grew up, somewhere along the way, without my knowledge, science won.
I still believed in God, and his existence, his power and I had faith... but in some ambivalent sort of way.... probably not in the least bit interesting or impressive to the God in question.
But another thing that actually made me go my own path (which was quite far away from religion) was the emphasis that in order to be a child of God, one must live in a manner God will approve of... which incidentally in my family, not only meant do not steal, lie, covet etc.. but also one should not drink, smoke, party, have boyfriends.. and lets not even go near sex!
I could never understand why people think that in todays world, when there are so many worse things happening out there, God is going to string you up by your heels for smoking or drinking. I believe in a God who is all knowing, and knows that times have changed and things are no where as simple as they used to be. So maybe, just maybe, if you're a great person and you've lived your life to the best of your ability, you smoking and drinking is not as much of a hassle as people think it is!
Also, the Bible has been interpreted and preached by none other than man... with their own lofty ideas about what God deems is right and wrong... what if they're wrong? What if God is not such a strict, fearsome God after all.. what if there are shades of Grey?
Alright, so the Bible also says things like our body is Gods temple and we should not tarnish it.. It doesn't go exactly like that, but you get my drift... But could it be possible that this is just a little too literal??
Don't you think that the most important thing for people to do is live a good life, as best they can and also derive as much enjoyment and pleasure out of life as they can, if they're not hurting anyone? Isn't this whole concept of self denial a thing of the past?
No one is really sacrificing goats at the alter anymore. Times have changed - people say God no longer wants or needs that. So why is it that people still believe that only if you deny yourself life's pleasures will you earn the pleasure of God? Maybe God doesn't want or need that either. Doesn't it stand to reason that if that were the case, if that were what God wanted, he'd have made us live on barren land... instead he gave us Paradise. Doesn't it seem like we've got something wrong, somewhere?