islamqa.com
IT gives you rulings on specific cases based on sharia , and it gives you various scholarly opinions on the same issue, so you can see which side you agree with..
just go to the site click English, and then start typing terms like adultery, murder, rape and short stuff like that, and read the questions...
editL Your not being rude
, it may seem strict on the surface, but when you realize that Islam works to take precautions on many of the social ills that plague western society, such as high divorce rates, violence, high crime rates (my city of Dallas is basically a war zone if you go deep enough in the citY), abortion and all of that..The strictness keeps people from suffering, by limiting certain freedoms we maximize security and happiness by preventing murder, adutlery, fornication and things like that......
Not to be speculative, maybe your family is just one of cultural muslims, people who follow some of the traditions of Islam and have the name of Islam, but due to lack of thorough Islamic teaching, dont follow all the teachigns of Islam
Kinza has an excellent point