You don't need to believe in religion to believe there's a god, scientist are showing more an more that it looks like the universe is of intelligent design, go look at the golden ratio and fibonacci Numbers that appear consistently in nature, the universe is of intelligent design, the ancients new this in the mystery schools, were kept in a sleep state for a reason because they don't want people knowing there true nature and power, the veil is close to lifting that will destroy organised religion.

Asking why God doesn't prevent terrible things is a tad stupid, I feel. I feel the world is hardly a terrible place. The terrible things that happen are so small in comparison to what could happen. For example say there were no more earthquakes, probably the tectonic plates wouldn't be moving. Why do they move? because of the shifting mantle beneath the crust. I'm not even sure what could happen if the mantle doesn't move because that's defying physics or something like the Earth stopped spinning caused that and you can imagine what that would mean. That's barely a fraction of what could happen and within the constraints of logic. There are infinite possibilities to the illogical tragedies that could occur. God also probably had to give foundation to a system of nature so we could understand the world and logic would be legitimate thing. Death also gives value to life

Some good posts in here.

Good point.  A world without natural disasters would require a capricious system of physics that may simply be conceptually impossible, and the current scientific model might actually be the most stable option for supporting life.  It is rather disappointing how deliberately manipulative the poll is.

LOL it wasnt an indication he didnt know. He was giving him the chance to be up front and honest about it. Much like a parent would a child knowing full well the child did it.

If you never know pain, you cannot appreciate happiness. It really is that simple.
Also if God stopped a person from robbing a bank, how could he then punish that person for something they never did?
Many scientist now admit that there must be a God or grand creator.
The Bible seemed to do a pretty good job of describing how we now know the universe formed though in simple terms for simple minded people.
Also blaming a natural disaster on our creator is silly. He didn't make you move next to a volcano or into Tornado alley.
When I lost my daughter did I blame God or the incompetent Doctor who let it happen? I chose to blame the Doctor instead of the being that made it possible for me to be here and to have a chance to have a child.
It is amusing though to see post from people who fail to comprehend even the basics but act like they know everything there is to know when it comes to religion.
Also amusing when people act like Christianity is the only option even though there are many other options. Which I also think our creator understood us enough to know that we as humans wouldn't accept 1 option let alone 2 so he gave us many and that is why most religions at their core all teach the same thing.

the bible is just a book of morals and behaviour

if you follow its your problem
god jesus and all that is all made up to give examples

come on its just a book

Imagine if there was no evil. There could still be good, better, and best. Is it really neccessary that humanity suffers to this extent?
The way god has it, the bad people are punished for eternity while the victims' lives are ruined. It may make our lives look better when compared to theirs, but those negative experiences are not helpful to those who are involved.
If good cannot exist without evil as you say, then how does eternal bliss exist in heaven?

If god is restricted by laws and physics, then he is not omnipotent. 

Because you already know what evil is then you can know good. And by the way that is not just a bible/christian thing. it is a psych thing. You can't know how bad or how good you have it without perspective. Perspective is expanded by option and choice. If you only knew good, then it would not even make sense to you what good is. How can you define a good action without knowing what is not a good action. My point is that in a world without evil and purely good, you would not know that it is good because you never understood that it could be bad. It's like living in a forest for your entire life without knowing about toilets and paper towels. Would that person think he is dirty without wiping since he doesn't even know what wiping is?

It is also the same  thing as being raised in a purely evil place  SInce you never knew what is good, evill is as good as it gets for you.