Why God appears so stern in Old Testament?

I think what Moses is trying to do in first few books is to streamline the whole community life with very honest intentions. In the context God makes him to do this by giving him various ordinances and regulations. While conveying these ordinances and regulations God starts appearing very stern to us or lets say to the people of last 3 centuries.
These ordinances and regulations are nothing but the somehow a naive replication of "penal code system" or "constitution" of any democratic nation of the modern world. What has happened is that, that each of us has been able to segregate his/her personal life from community life. In more apt words Ican say that now one approaches to the religious scriptures for more personal spiritual life. Thats why we keep on hearing expressions like "religion is personal matter!". The other side of the coin is one has stopped approaching religious scriptures for guidance to have better community life. For better community life we have accepted the "constitution" and "penal code system" of our nations cherishing our so called "rights" and "responsibilities". In Leviticus 10:9 the word rightly used is "statute" which signifies what God wants exactly for the community.
Standing on this stair of segregation automatically God of Old Testament starts appearing very very stern and also to a certain extent insane. But if I would have existed where democratic system is absent the same God would have appeared to me very much rational and sane.