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So, then are you saying that I can venerate Mary without praying to her and/or considering her in some way an integral part of the redemption process, and you will honor that position as one of those that is not settled by Scripture?

In Revelation 12:17, we, the believers who "keep God's commandments and bear witness to Jesus", are called the rest of Mary's "offspring". We see from this that the Great Sign of the heavenly Queen clothed with the Sun, and with her crown of 12 stars, is our Mother. So it follows that we are to honor her because she is our Mother, and honoring one's father and mother are commandments of God. Mary herself said "All generations will call me Blessed (Luke 1:48) --- and to do so, as we do, is to venerate her.

Other aspects of the veneration of Mary are solidly established by Sacred Tradition and by the Church herself --- which Jesus says has the authority, given by Him, to bind and to loose on earth and in heaven (Matthew 16:19).

A good Bible Christian is obliged to recognize the authority of Sacred Tradition and the Church herself. Why? Because this is verified by Scripture.

So the Marian veneration you referred to, is not an optional extra. It is a God-established part of the the Church via Tradition and the teaching of the Church herself.