I don't believe in a deity.
But if I did, I would have to question the whole "free will" answer.
If god is all-knowing, he would have known how we "misuse" his creation even before he created anything.
And being all-powerful; he could have made it impossible for us to do so, while retaining our free-will.
Thus, it follows that god would be just as responsible for "evil" as we are.
Free Will and Predestination are incompatible.
If you are predestined, you do not have free will.
If there is an "all knowing" god that granted his creation free will ... he would know the outcome of that free will. But that doesn't make it predestination.
IF predestination IS true, that means God willed those outcomes ... including evil ... and thus God is 100% responsible.
Again. I was raised in the church and was taught the concepts they use to explain the nature of god.
That would be the shortest BIBLE on earth now, wouldn't it?
Why does everything have to be so cut and dried?
No. That is not the way of anything. God is there for us. He is there. He is here. He is in us and around us and to just say he threw a bunch of stuff together and let us go is ludicrous.