I grew up in a tightly wound religious household.
I stopped going to church almost 30 years ago.
Here is what I would say to you... God as taught by organized religion is a farce. Meaning, not that God is a farce, but the misguided teachings.
IMO... if there is a God, I see him as one who "set the stage" for mankind to live. He is not the director/producer. He simply set the stage for us to exist. He is not involved in our lives. At all. Complete autonomy.
The cancers you speak of have more to do with things man has developed, used, environment people worked in etc. than God.
Just sayin.
I grew up in a similar family. You can’t swing an arm at a family gathering without hitting a church worker (clergy, teacher, elder, musician, etc...). My parents, siblings and I included.
I stopped attending services regularly when I moved out f the house at age 24. The church I had been attending was being ripped apart by political issues and I needed a break before finding a new congregation. Then suddenly I get word that my father has cancer and going to church was the last thing I wanted to do.
Three years later he was dead and I haven’t been in a church for anything other than a special event (wedding, funeral, etc...) since.
I spent a little over 30 months after his death searching out answers from every religion I could find. Nobody had any answers until I started talking to the Spiritual and New Age groups. I’ve found my Spiritual place over the last 18 years.