The comments and discussion in response to traditional forms of theodicy have been excellent, so I will limit this post to some questions that are simply designed to keep the conversation going...
First, is "natural evil" (as examined by figures like Pope, Voltaire, and Rousseau) simply an old-fashioned idea, now that science has given us such improved knowledge about things like earthquakes, tsunamis, disease, etc.? In other words, how can a purely natural phenomenon be "evil"?
Second, it's important to return to a basic question: Does the presence of seemingly unwarranted suffering in the world necessarily lead to agnosticism about the existence of God? To atheism? (I.e., did Sextus Empiricus have it right? What about Ivan in The Brothers Karamazov?) Thinking about this issue from another angle: is so-called "evil" only a "problem" (as in, some kind of intellectual/existential scandal that urgently needs to get sorted out) if one believes in God?
