@bigdoggproblem said
Yes, the meaning of the term "evil", in the General Argument from Evil, is usually expanded beyond the common meaning, to include natural evils. We could also call those things "bad things" or "tragic occurrences" - with the point being that God ought to be willing and able to stop them, active earth and all. For example, God could lead people away from the volcano bef ...[text shortened]... oreknowledge of such events and the power to prevent them or alleviate the suffering caused by them.
Well, God doing those things is a direct violation of free will.
I mean back in the day, we had God talking to people who already believed in him, setting up a prophet to do the grunt work, building an ark, leading people out of Egypt, he even sent his Son to earth in his place, because a direct revelation of God to the godless people doesn't give them much room to 'not believe', if that's their free will choice.
Imagine if the hand of God kept showing up before disasters, showing the way to safety, eventually we'd have people not concerned with saving themselves because "if it were serious, God will save us", and we'd have millions more people suddenly believing in God, but isn't that coercion? God doesn't want people believing in him and following him because their only other choice is to die, free will IS necessary to a people choosing a path. People need to be free to NOT choose God, for there to be any value in choosing God.
Jesus saith unto him, "Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed [are] they that have not seen, and [yet] have believed." - - John 20:29, KJV