To get serious here, I think the PoE problem really only makes sense if you see God as a construction of man. A God with a relationship with man, a contract with man, and a promise to do good by man can be revealed a fraud pretty easily, since there is so much evil in the world, much of it directed toward perfect innocents (female muslims, starving infants, etc.)
But what about an actual, universe-creating God? What would good and bad be then? Given that there must be evil, then what would be the role of an all-good God? Presumably, it would be to promote the greatest possible good, and the least possible evil. And not only might that not lend great import to Aunt Effel's skin cancer, it might not even involve the survival of humanity.
There are then two issues: is a God that must allow evil really all-powerful? No, not in the sense that "God could make a stone that even He couldn't lift." But it may be that existence requires a balancing act between positive and negative forces, and that the good of God is in being around to separate them, thus allowing existence rather than a lack of it.
But what about an actual, universe-creating God? What would good and bad be then? Given that there must be evil, then what would be the role of an all-good God? Presumably, it would be to promote the greatest possible good, and the least possible evil. And not only might that not lend great import to Aunt Effel's skin cancer, it might not even involve the survival of humanity.
There are then two issues: is a God that must allow evil really all-powerful? No, not in the sense that "God could make a stone that even He couldn't lift." But it may be that existence requires a balancing act between positive and negative forces, and that the good of God is in being around to separate them, thus allowing existence rather than a lack of it.
