Where do you stand on the existence of God?

[Catholic_Lady]

Actually, the "problem of evil" has never for one second made me question God because I believe in free will. There was never a formal argumentative reason, except for maybe "why doesn't He show Himself to everyone all the time?" I've mainly just questioned it because I had never seen it so I toyed with the possibility that it could all be made up. I was never an atheist, not even an agnostic, but I'd definitely had times/phases where I wondered if it really is all true.

How do you deal with events that have extremely negative consequences that have nothing to do with free will?

The Japan tsunami, for example.

Inserting the word "natural", where does your god fit in the following by Epicurus:

Is God willing to prevent natural evil, but not able? 
Then he is not omnipotent. 
Is he able, but not willing? 
Then he is malevolent. 
Is he both able and willing? 
Then whence cometh natural  evil? 
Is he neither able nor willing? 
Then why call him God?

I didn't answer because I am not trying to convince anyone of anything, and I don't want this thread to turn into a debate. Usually when I get asked a question and I answer it, the response back to me isn't "Oh I see. Ok, thanks for answering." It usually leads to attacks/debates, which I really don't care for. 

The answer is I believe God allows nature to take its course. Just as we came from nature taking its course (evolution), so too may we perish the same way. I believe it's God's way of doing things. Micromanaging is not His style. 

I think it's also important to keep in mind that death on this earth seems like the absolute end to us, but if you look at it through the perspective of a god, death on this earth is only the beginning of eternal life. So while we see it as the absolute worst thing ever imaginable, if we are trying to understand the thoughts of a god, we need to put things in his perspective. We may lose a loved one due to natural disaster and it will negatively impact the rest of the 50 or so years of our lives. But in the realm of all eternity, what is 10 years? 20 years? 50 years? If we live forever, is 20 years of depression over the loss of a loved one the absolute worst thing imaginable?

I'm not saying it isn't an awful thing to endure, or that I feel extremely sorry for these people. I'm also not saying I don't believe He cares about our suffering. I believes He cares very much. But I believe He is able to see the big picture and to see that nature's antics won't destroy us and will become insignificant in the realm of our eternal lives. So I don't think that letting nature take its course (which is what resulted in our existence in the first place), is malevolent.      

I don't think tsunamis are evil. I don't think death, in and of itself is evil. I believe evil acts committed by conscious people, are evil. And that is entirely our own free will.