I wanted to know what it is about us that seems to thrive on the devil's existence. Why is it that certain regions of this country, certain denominations, and even certain individual churches almost seem to love the devil, he's such an integral, dynamic, vital part of their religious culture. My friend puffed on his pipe. I chuckled politely, thinking he was making a joke about the power of the clergy's virtue. But then I saw that he was not joking.
Preachers keep the devil alive.
Some couldn't preach without him. They need him and all the fear they can attach to him. And he needs them to keep talking about him, because if they stop, no one else will bother to get so worked up about him, and he'll dry up and blow away, until he's just an empty husk, just another word for evil. But these ministers, you see, keep the devil alive. They've made careers out of fighting him.