Okay, let's assume that the reason God isn't in plain view right now is this test of free will that you speak of. If God were around, that would take away our choice of not believing in him, right?

Well, won't those who are chosen as worthy, as you say, lose their free will to not believe in God as soon as they've 'ascended' into his presence? Won't they have lost that free will for the rest of eternity? And won't the people who are burning in hell have lost that free will too? Once we reach that point, the only difference between us having had free will from the beginning and not having had it will be that a good many of god's beloved children will be burning in eternal misery. This just doesn't make sense to me at all.

If God is all those things I mentioned above -- allpowerful and omniscient, etc. -- then it is he who has created this world of chaos and confusion and hatred and fear. Even if man is the source of evil, god is the source of man, and therefore God is also the source of evil. How can we say that God encompasses all, and yet that we are separate, lower creatures that must be judged? How can we be separate from God if God is completely transcendent? And if we are a part of God, why would he choose to judge and punish himself?