Truth and Fact in Modern Rabbinic Judaism

Should contemporary societal values and norms shape Judaism?

At what point in history have practices of faith traditions not been shaped by societal values? How is it that one Rabbi can read Leviticus 18:22 (“You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination”) and interpret it as an explicit sanction against romantic homosexual relationships, another see it as sanctions against a specific sexual act between men, and another detach morality from the equation altogether and see this as a preventative medical suggestion (not much different from refraining from the consumption of pork)? Text can be interpreted, reinterpreted, and reshaped based on the context of the modern day. Perhaps, new interpretations differ from previous interpretations of the same exact text. Perhaps, it serves to interest-specific communities and expands rights that previously did not exist. However, can modern Jews genuinely look back at the Jews of Biblical times and consider their societal values so much more refined than our modern ones when they slaughtered the Shechemites? What about the crumbling of Jericho? The worshiping of foreign gods?