But, it still remains that God isn't doing anything to stop that evil. Therefore he must lack one of these qualities: omniscience, omnipotence, benevolence or existence.

He lacks none of those qualities. He knows all and he has made provisions for us. He is a very giving God and he Exists, he can do all things and he knows all things. He lacks nothing. He allows us to make the choices that unfortunately let evil cross our path. We can face evil and over come it through faith. I have had pure evil in my life and although I was hurt, I never blamed or questioned God. I simply relied on him to help me escape the evil and he did.

I never said God created evil. I'm just saying, if God has the 4 essential qualities of a supreme being (omniscience, omnipotence, benevolence, existence), then evil logically should not exist.

I'm atheist as well. This question was more or less geared towards any believers on the site to consider.

But, I see what you're saying, and I disagree. If God is the ultimate being, he can create a scenario where there is absolutely no pain and still get the desired result that you speak of. The whole benefit of being all-powerful is that you can create any scenario imaginable, even unimaginable. There is absolutely zero limit to your power.

You propose that the answer to pain is "it will all be better off in the end because of it". So you're aiming for a certain result. Let's call this result x. If we had no pain, we would end up with result "y". You propose that "x" is greater than "y". But, if God was all-powerful, he would be able to achieve "x" without evil or pain, because he is all-powerful. So it doesn't make sense to say that it all is for a better cause, unless God is not benevolent.

Not to mention this but utilitarianism (achieving the greatest good for the greatest number of people) is widely criticized for not taking into consideration motive or principle into consideration. God would clearly realize this if he is all-knowing and would not take a utilitarian approach.

@potterarchy did a fine job. It's refreshing to find someone with the ability to gain insight into someone else's viewpoints even if they differ from their own.

"Sin" exists and is allowed to because God gave us the freedom to choose. We're not robots that can be programmed and run down like little toys, being fixed when broken and put right back out to play.

If God behaved the way you proposed in your question there'd be no free will with any consequences whatsoever. The necessity to let this choice play out in our lives is to prove that His love and His plan is greater than our own and will work for any who choose to follow Him instead of their own hearts. As His creations He is proving to the universe (all of His creations, including Satan) that we aren't just a mistake that should be wiped out and reprogrammed. He loves us too much for that. One of the reasons why Satan got pissed off in the first place, jealousy.

The "greater good" is often mentioned because it's mentioned in the Bible (all things work together for good for them that love the Lord (paraphrased)), and for good reason in context. But there are horrible things that we can do to ourselves and others. If God stepped in and put a stop to it without letting people choose He'd be a tyrant.

He shows His love by giving us His own Son to pay the price for our stupidity so that we have a chance to survive the hell we've created for ourselves. Why? Because the consequences of sin is death. Not "hell", our actual existence ceasing. Some people look forward to that option, everyone is free to make that choice. I'm glad I have another choice available.

God's ability to save us from ourselves was put to the test by Satan when Jesus wandered in the desert (I won't bore you with too much details, if you are truly interested you can read it for yourself).

Satan told Jesus, just throw yourself off the cliff. God will save you, right? Jesus told him tempting God wasn't the answer. Satan said, why starve? If you're the Son of God you can just turn the rocks into bread. Jesus answered, man does not live by bread alone. The ability to do something doesn't make it the right thing to do.

Your own parents (hardly omniscient) tell you not to do something and you often find out that when you do you paid dearly for your first hand experience. Just because you aren't mature enough to understand their request doesn't make the request invalid.

I'm thankful for my ability to make my own choices even if I wish God would push all the right buttons so I didn't hurt people without realizing that's what I've done.

Your ability to trap yourself in a logic corner doesn't make your logic sound. Your arguments are without proper study, preparation or the desire to understand. There is no wisdom in someone's words when it lacks application.

Example:
Three men pay $10 each for a room ($30 total). Discovering he has overcharged his guests by $5 he takes five $1 bills and goes to give them change. Realizing there is no way to split $5 evenly between three people he gets their permission to donate $2 to a worthy charity and gives each of the men $1 which means each man only paid $9 for their room.

On the way back to his office the manager does some math. If each man only paid $9 ($10 each, refunded $1 each) that makes $27 (9 x 3 = 27), plus the $2 he donated for them. 27 + 2 = 29.

What happened to the missing dollar?

The problem lies in your ability to look at things from one end (your premise) then approach it from the other (your conclusion) and meet somewhere in the middle (your argument). Faulty logic may make an argument SEEM valid, but it misses the mark.

Consider the possibility that your freedom to choose what you believe and how you believe it and practice it is a God given right. I accept that. So is my ability to believe and practice my own beliefs as long as it doesn't infringe on another's freedom of choice. As long as I don't accuse you of being ignorant for your choice or force my beliefs on you like a tyrannical parent, I should like to expect the same from you.

BUT, we all have the freedom to choose and the only thing that is guaranteed is there is something better for "me" to look forward to. I have Hope and Faith in a better life and it is my responsibility to share that hope with others. Live my life as an example of that faith and leave you to make your own choices.

How can that be bad?

If you take hope away from the people, if you take free will away from the masses, if you can justify your actions by declaring we live in a Godless society, how does that make your vision any greater?

NOTE: I apologize in advance if my own answer is viewed as faulty logic, there's much more to my understanding of the best answer. I skipped over a Bible study that takes most people weeks or months to complete for the sake of brevity. Never take someone's word for what is written in the Bible. Read it for yourself or discuss material that you're more familiar with.