Here is a small survey for you:

• Are you spiritual? Yes … Maybe … No
• Do you believe in God? Yes … Maybe … No
• Do you believe angels? Yes … Maybe … No
• Do you believe in the Devil (aka Satan)? Yes … Maybe … No
• Do you believe demons? Yes … Maybe … No

So, how did you do? I recommend being very honest about your answers, and you don’t need to tell anyone else. Tell yourself.

A few years ago, in 2009, a research organization “Barna” made a survey on belief in spiritual beings. I’m sure their survey was better than mine, and it made an interesting discovery; Most Americans who identify as Christian do not believe in the Devil, or in the Holy Spirit.

If you want to read more, you can see a report here:

• READ: Most American Christians Do Not Believe that Satan or the Holy Spirit Exist

I believe that the most important person that you should meet, someday, is yourself. Ok, I also think that you should meet God, but who is that person who might meet God? If you bundle up all of your real beliefs, what person do you see?

According to Barna’s research, most Americans who describe themselves as “Christian” do not believe in the Devil. Probably, they imagine a symbolic image of all the evil things that humans do.

I was raised in a church-going and religious family, and, with my friends, I learned the value of conformity. We knew how to stay out of trouble and how to keep the older people happy. That was not the same as believing.

On the other side, there are many people, including actual Satanists, who believe in the Devil, but don’t believe in, or don’t care about God. This is a growing and emerging community, in modern societies.

And some people, sometimes, cross from one side to the other:

We are strangely polarized.

If we have God, we don’t need a Devil, and if we worship Satan, there is no place for God.

I have a solution for this. At least, it works for me. Have you ever seen a picture of Czesława Kwoka? Possibly, but you may not know the name:

Czesława Kwoka

I hate these pictures, but I can’t look away. This child, a fourteen-year-old girl, in Poland, was sent to Auschwitz, during the Nazi occupation.

She was abused and hit hard in the face. In one photo, there is some damage to her bottom lip. Just after the pictures were taken, she was injected with a chemical to stop her heart.

That little girl was murdered, along with many others.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the Nazis were a distant third in mass murders, to other forces. Apparently, the Chinese and Soviet Communists killed many more.

I believe, that when we see the real evil in this world, we can know that it is too dark, or deep to be explained away. The worst things that happen are more than just criminal misbehavior. We can honestly see the work of some evil force, that works along with our human assistance.

If we can’t see the person, we can see the best work. There is an evil force among us.

And there is something remarkable about the few people who know both sides of the divide. I hope we can all find the balance:

“Be sober and alert. Your enemy the devil, like a roaring lion, is on the prowl looking for someone to devour. Resist him, strong in your faith, because you know that your brothers and sisters throughout the world are enduring the same kinds of suffering. And, after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him belongs the power forever. Amen.” (1 Peter 5: 8 to 11)