According to my beliefs the world was created for humans and God created humans out of His love for us:
3: O SON OF MAN! Veiled in My immemorial being and in the ancient eternity of My essence, I knew My love for thee; therefore I created thee, have engraved on thee Mine image and revealed to thee My beauty.
The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 4
I would be skeptical of a human being claiming to speak for the creator of the entire universe.
These are good questions. God sends Messengers who reveal scriptures to humans to guide humanity to the straight path, instead of allowing them to go down the wrong path. The teachings and laws of the Messengers are for our own benefit, so we will know how to fulfill the purpose of our existence, which is to know and love God and acquire spiritual qualities such that we will have what we need when we die and enter the spiritual world.
Path for what? If the purpose of our existence is to know and love God (which is also an assumption), then it seems that suffering should not be required in order to fulfill that purpose.
So, are you saying that it would be a mistake if God did exist and God created planet where humans would suffer, even though God does not directly cause the suffering?
We don't know that God doesn't directly cause the suffering.
You might say that human suffering is caused by other humans exercising their free will, but the problem with free will is that, by announcing His presence by sending messengers and issuing commands, God has already tainted the idea of free will. Consider how children have religious beliefs and dogma drilled and drummed into their head literally from birth. This affects the thought processes and can condition them towards learned behaviors, not free will.
If God had just left us alone and let us do whatever we thought was best, then it would have been a true test of character and free will. By instilling the fear of God into people at an early age, it can be stressful and toxic, leading to the kinds of aberrant behaviors which can lead to even more suffering.
"Free will" isn't really free if one is making choices under conditions of extreme duress and coercion. A contract signed under duress is not valid.
"Let me tell you something about humans, nephew. They're a wonderful, friendly people as long as their bellies are full and their holosuites are working. But take away their creature comforts, deprive them of food, sleep, sonic showers, put their lives in jeopardy over an extended period of time, and those same friendly, intelligent, wonderful people will become as nasty and as violent as the most bloodthirsty Klingon."
Would you argue that people who turn from being wonderful and friendly into violent and bloodthirsty purely by their own choice? Does an otherwise sane and well-adjusted human being just wake up one morning and decide "Hey, I think I'm going to become a homicidal maniac"? There might very well be cases like that in history, but to say that it's merely a matter of humans exercising free will is such a gross oversimplification so as to become meaningless.
If there is no God, then the whole discussion would be moot. But if one proposes the idea that some supremely powerful entity called "God" designed and built this place we're living in, it seems incongruous and counterintuitive to further assert that this Creator has nothing to do with what happens here or the processes which govern the life cycle of humans and other living things.
The Baha'i Faith is too small as yet to put a stop to such barbarism, but we would agree it is wrong. We believe that belief should be a choice and if people do not choose to believe they simply do not get the benefits and rewards that come with believing. but there are no punishments from God.
Well, that's nice. Some religions might paint a more benevolent portrait of God. I agree that not all religions are the same in this regard, but the religions which have held most of the influence and political power over humans are the ones I would look at.
I do not understand how you think religion plays on the fear of suffering to manipulate humans. We all suffer equally, whether we have a religion or not because suffering is inherent in a life in the material world. How is submitting and enduring our suffering in this life a way to avoid an eternity of suffering in the afterlife? Did you mean that religion plays on our fear of suffering in the afterlife to manipulate and coerce humans?
I strongly disagree with your view that "we all suffer equally." Anyone with eyes and ears can clearly see that's not true at all.
Religion wants people to be obedient. The word itself is derived from the Latin "religare," which means to bind or restrict. Religion wants people to be blindly obedient, following the dictates of the Church and their feudal lords without question. It's a political tool intended to induce conformity and compliance.
You're correct in that human suffering has nothing to do with God, but by imposing religion on humans to bind and restrict them from thinking freely and exercising true free will, it has made it all the more difficult for humans to alleviate the sufferings of other humans. This is the real problem with God; not so much with God Himself, but many of the people who believe in God and religions which propagate such beliefs. They have been barriers to progress and only serve to perpetuate and increase human suffering.
The only real progress we've made has been within the past few centuries, once we started becoming more secular and slowly removing the bonds and restrictions of religious dogma. Some religions have also become progressive, so I don't discount them or condemn all who follow a religion. But all in all, I think humans have outgrown God.
As for the cause of suffering, I agree that there are many humans out there who are malignant and cause much needless suffering throughout the world. In fact, one can draw a common thread throughout all of known human history and see it as one long struggle to end human suffering, in one form or another. Technologically, scientifically, politically, socially, culturally - all because none of us want to suffer or endure hardship. We all need food, water, shelter, and some measure of security from predators - and other humans as well.
One can see over the span of time how we've slowly improved our living conditions - built better shelters and enhanced our agricultural capabilities to be able to feed more people. This also meant people having to learn to fight and build better weapons, since being conquered by an enemy was another form of suffering humans wanted to avoid. Those who endure suffering at the hands of others might want revenge, and suddenly human "free will" shifts to an intentional desire to inflict suffering upon others.
Even today, the US government looks at other nations, such as Russia, China, NK, Iran, and says "You cause suffering to other people. Therefore, we oppose you." We've even gone to war or threatened war because we've made it some kind of national crusade to end human suffering and the perpetrators of human suffering. Of course, that's where it's complicated, since we also cause a lot of suffering in the process of ending it.
So, it seems that ending human suffering is probably far more difficult than it looks, and maybe humans are just too puny, powerless, and hapless to really do it on their own (due to limitations of our design). Either we have quite a bit more evolving to do, or perhaps we could use some help from...somewhere.