If this is the case then humans have become 'better' in spite of God, not because of god.
He created a situation of perpetual suffering, then laid out the rules of the bible which presumably we can just completely ignore and let natural selection and later technology do the work, no? I mean, I'm an atheist yet I consider myself a far kinder and thoughtful individual than many of those christian bigots I've met and read about who study the bible, the same as many other non-believers, so clearly the bible isn't necessary to guide us in any way, it can guide us either on a dark path or a light one, depending on who we are as a result of natural selection and genetics.
In fact, we've defied the bible in so many ways as a global society yet pushed to a far better place, that it's another example of progress in spite of efforts from God to thwart us.
Furthermore, I think the level of suffering from nature is pretty excessive if the only motive is to make us appreciate the good stuff. Thousands of generations of torture, disease and God's own personal (very human) issues - many of which actually created by humans themselves.
How can one reasonably worship a God that decided this was the only reasonable direction to take to reach a magnificent end? Why not simply leave that out of the blueprints? If these things cannot be understood by mortal humans, then I see no reason why we should bother following their lead, as they take us through countless millennia of horror and despair that only really existed via his own product; the soul. The only logical approach - which is all us humans have to go by - is to abandon such terror and guide ourselves with science and understanding of the world and each other.
This happens irrespective of any greater power, evidently. Ergo, to me, God's only input in our existence is to make us suffer. That doesn't sit right with me, and I find it odd that anybody could keep it on faith that eventually something magnificent will come out of it all, history just doesn't support that premise.
Hope this makes sense, stream of thought unplanned
Edit: I realise this is probably not the place to be having such a potentially sizeable debate so I might just make a pondering post about these thoughts instead
My understanding of God and his purposes is a lot broader and deeper than you describe, therefore I find Him palatable. I can see your point of view in not wanting to believe in the god you describe. If that were my understanding and level of perception of him I could also likely choose the atheistic route.
However there is more than you describe and bigots etc. are found amongst atheists and non-believers alike. They are likely representative of the ratio in the rest of humanity... simply more noticeable because they profess a higher standard.
I must confess I've never actually read a bible (Other than what I was raised with in CoE schools) and generally find it hard to engage with individuals since there's always this kind of thick red line between 'us and them', so I'm obviously somewhat biased and ignorant of the deeper levels that you claim to be aware of. Something for me to think about =)
Well said, and the stream is oftentimes the better way 😀