I can choose to believe Star Wars is reality. So yes it's entirely up to you what you believe, but you also "ought to" have a basis for those beliefs other than "because...that's what I think". I would say that type of belief is lazy and dangerous. If God indeed did write this Bible, and those who have studied have (and they do) come to the conclusion it's not 100% literal (which is an entirely American Western phenomena by the way) and that those who WROTE the Bible did not take it that way (which from all accounts we have -- they didn't) then it would suggest to me you in fact don't put any work at all in what you claim to be so engrossed it. A relationship of a certain God is a "religion" because that God is based in sacred texts. Anyone can create an imaginary friend and call it God...it actually takes work to understand a people's God.
This is a problem I encounter with countless Christians. Solipcism. The belief that everyone else sees "their worlds" the way they see theirs. I don't, and scientists don't see things in terms of belief. And scientists certainly don't ridicule competing theories because said theories would have to be grounded with evidence and logic...in fact it's far more likely they'd consider the theory and a new theory would come out of it. Evolution is a prime example of where competing theories and new data have led to the evolution of it as a theory.
Most scientists, and most rationalists (like myself) try to take things as little on faith as possible...so the question of belief is not even a question. We don't believe things, we seek answers to problems we pose ourselves. We try to find solutions through a tried and true method and try to be as skeptical as possible while doing so...quiet the opposite of belief.
But it does accept new ideas. Gravity as Newton purposed it is no longer applicable because of new ideas. Darwin's evolutionary theory is long outdated because of new ideas. If you think science lacks new ideas I'd have to ask you why every semester the Science books go out of edition and new ones have to be ordered. Because new ideas change the information in them.
Being in the book business I can suggest something else, but the greater idea is not what is fact, but rather what is truth?
I have studied Christ for years and studied him for years before I chose to follow him. I studied the lineage of his background in the Hebrew faith and the historical accuracy of the teaching and writings of the hebrew scribes. I did not come by it, but rather choose to research it and question it. As to whether it is literal or not, I would suggest that it is not a western idea as much as you might suggest. While there are many in the east who accept certain passages as historical rhetoric, there are many who accept that the bible is a basis for a factual account of the way that God moved to create the universe. While we may have questions about the length of his "day" I would hardly say that he did not create the earth.
My faith is based on the bible's record of the teachings of both the hebrews and early christians, but also i looked at the works of people like Josephus and other records for a balanced perspective and reliable record.
My point about Gravity is while you can explain what it is in a measurable unit, Science cannot truly explain the force behind it. I love science for all that it can do and bring to the human race. While I have a little trouble accepting many ideas put forth, I challenge them and research them to find the truth behind them.
As for scientists accepting competing views, I am glad you are so trusting of the scientific community but have read enough papers and seen enough educational programming where authors and speakers have presented their ideas to a thunderous silence to know that while it is an accepted ideal, acceptance of new ideas that challenge the norm are not as easily accepted as you may think.
I know that things were left out of God's text by man, and things were added in. The Truth was not.
God created the earth, in his time, with his plan. As time progressed, many things happened that were recorded so that we can have a record of his faithfulness as well as a way of looking for an example to keep us on a path that is of his design and desire.
His son was sent to die for my sins and yours. I know that to be the truth because his son fulfilled prophecies that were 400 years in the making, because he proved it through his resurrection and his life and the life he gave me now.
I am not a lazy christian. I am in fact the opposite. I have gone beyond the bible for references of God and sought truth in both the bible and life. I have tried to not simply accept the words of others as his truth, but rather ask what science can show me.
When I see the monkey without the kneecap and the bee flying around it gives me faith in him more than ever before.