If our belief system sees only one narrow view of life, it is not examined at all. There is more to the world than what we can touch and see. Much of the Bible is allegory and much of it is period and/or culturally specific; it requires discernment and intellect to glean the lessons of the texts. Allegory is all around us everyday, in every aspect of our lives, with or without religion – it requires discernment and intellect to glean the meaning in our modern lives. Finding that meaning is the mystery.

Allegory is a valuable and necessary learning tool for discernment. Even the most rigid scientists use allegory to try to help people understand and visualize. I'm sure you recall that Big Bang bathtub allegory. It's kind of silly on its face, but was a decent way to help people begin to visualize the Big Bang. It remains a good allegory even though it's an incomplete picture of the formation of the universe. The mysteries of universe and our understanding of them constantly change as we discover more, and so do our allegories for that understanding.

That some people refuse to see allegory in the Bible is how we get extremism in religion and why some athiests will only see the extremists – and thereby condemn and dismiss all believers. Both the extremists and those condmening athiests cling to their dogmatic certitude. It doesn't make either of them correct. Indeed, dogmatic certitude makes them both wrong because life just doesn't come down to either-or. Existence isn't black or white, nor even just shades of gray. It's a full spectrum of color, light, and dark.

Dogmatic certitude allows no room for allegory or discernment. If a belief system is mired in such dogmatic certitude, then that belief system – religious or seclar – is unexamined and incomplete.