There’s an old saying about giving the devil his due, and today it seems more fitting than ever.

Many ignore the reality of the one called the Prince of Lies in Scripture, refusing to link him with the evils in the world today.

Oh, yes, these folks will say, there certainly is evil in the world. Just read the headlines and you’ll see families torn apart in war and felled by terrorism. Watch TV shows and you’ll see the glorification of every kind of sin, with horrors like adultery and premarital sex made to look as harmless as oatmeal on a wintry day.

Unfortunately, some theologians try demoting the creature who rejoices in such evils to a mere symbol.

Last spring, in fact, at the Protestant school of theology where I work, there was actually a panel discussion in which various theology professors took sides on whether or not the Devil is real.

I’m sure the Devil himself had a good laugh that day.

Now there’s a movie, The Rite, which dares to explore the reality of the devil, and certainly doesn’t water him down. And here’s a nice bonus: There’s a blessed absence of outpourings of pea soup and scenes with spinning heads.

Indeed, this movie–which opens with a quote from none other than Pope John Paul II–is far less sensational than The Exorcist of years ago, and more terrifying in its realism.

The Rite doesn’t feature holier-than-thou clergymen as exorcists, but rather ordinary, fallible fellows, including a Catholic seminarian who is struggling with doubts about God.

In fact, it is only when the seminarian encounters the harrowing horrors of a real exorcism that he finally surrenders his deep skepticism about all things supernatural.

We live in a world where secularists reduce everything to the physical. Love? It’s just a bunch of neurons firing in the brain. Death? Just the cessation of biological processes that keep the body going.

But as the Catholic faith teaches, such reductionism leaves us with a mighty small, mighty sad world. In it, humans are nothing more than highly intelligent animals, and there is nothing beyond the grave.

It seems that few Hollywood productions probe the supernatural in an enlightening way. TV shows like “Supernatural” are based on a heretical theology that defines some demons as capable of good actions, while angels are portrayed as prone to sin.

Sadly, when the line between good and evil blurs to this extent, there’s no one to root for. There’s no home team.

Fortunately, The Rite, which is based on the experiences of a real-life Catholic priest, gives us a compelling look at the terrors and misgivings encountered by men battling something that is not a symbol, and certainly not a watered-down version of evil.

These men valiantly confront the hideous creatures that Christ himself expelled from people in the Gospel accounts. Clearly, as our Catholic faith teaches, these creatures are still very much with us today, and they still need casting out with rituals and prayers.

But before they can be vanquished, they must be recognized as real. And that means the world must give the devil his due.

Lorraine’s latest book is “Death of a Liturgist,” a mystery that explores the damages that ensue when a traditional parish is held hostage by a liturgist who wants to get everyone grooving at Sunday Mass. She also has written a biography of Flannery O’Connor, “The Abbess of Andalusia.”