Why evil?

 You ask how a good God could create a world that allows for evil to persist? One answer put forth is that evil is an unfortunate byproduct of giving people free will. Maybe free will is not worth it then. Take away free will and no more evil! Why doesn't God do that? But then what about love? Isn't love also a byproduct of free will? How can we have love without free will? Let me ask this... would you prefer to be loved by someone who chooses to love you of their own free will? Or would it be just as good to be loved by someone who is forced or coerced into loving you? Is that even love? If a robot has been programmed to "love" someone is that real, meaningful love? If someone has a gun to their head and told they must love you or else? If someone loves you because they think they will get a reward? No. Meaningful love must be chosen and not forced. That is the kind of love that we all desire and so, I would submit, that is what God desires as well. Why then is there evil in the world? Because without at least the potential for evil, there could be no real, meaningful love. If everyone chose to follow the path that Jesus showed us, there would be no evil. But if God forced everyone to follow the way and gave us no option to choose for ourself, it would not be true love. 

Evil is not always as direct as punching a baby. There is also the evil of indifference. I can't think of anyone who would actually punch a newborn baby, but how many people would see a mother sitting on the side of the road clutching a baby crying from hunger with her arms outstretched begging for alms and would then pass by on the other side thinking to themselves "Not my problem."? I believe it is our free will, our ability to choose good from bad as moral agents that makes us in the image of God. Our ability to choose to love is what gives love its meaning. As in the Kierkegard story of the Maiden, the King realizes that the only love worth receiving is that which is freely given. And he is willing to give up his kingdom to get it. I can't imagine that Heaven is a place where our free will is stripped away from us and we become mindless robots strumming harps. Does that mean there could be evil in heaven? What I'm saying is that I don't see how there could be true love in heaven without at least the potential of evil. I think we haven't adequately defined all the possibilities of what evil is. I think you touched on the idea that evil is not a thing but rather the lack of a thing - that thing being love. But I don't think you delved into it too deeply. When you take away love, we are left with a void that we call evil, whether it is an active form (punching babies) or inactive (indifference). It is like darkness when there is no light. It is like silence when there is no sound. It is like the deep cold of space when there is no heat. But my next question is more troubling. Do we need evil as a contrast to love to fully appreciate love? If there was only love in the world and no evil, would we even recognize it? Would we be able to appreciate it without knowing what it would be like without it? I don't think we can ever completely get rid of evil or at least the potential for evil, which is also why I believe that grace and forgiveness are so important. I think we will continue to need grace and forgiveness even in heaven.