The main message of Ramayana was to show 1) How even when God is born as a Human being, he tries to be the best, but gets misled and does some wrong things and 2) After doing the wrong things, he gets punished too.
Ramayana should be seen in that context. Some people think Ram did evil , he is evil man in banishing sita etc etc. Dont forget that sita devi finally pointed out his mistake and left earth and Ram repents till the end and he leads life of a loner. It is to show the importance that men should attach to women and how one should not be misled by some comments by others.
In other words, Ramayana is first epic that says that "Dont forsake your near and dear for sake of some fools and their opinion"
There are lots of subtle messages from Ramayana which fools (athiests) refuse to see. Rama is embodiment of Human mistakes and divinity that gets embedded in human faultiness and fatality. You may not worship him, but dont find fault without reason. learn the message.
