‘whenever someone asks me the baited question, ‘Are you a Christian?”’
If you call that a “baited question”, that kind of says a lot in itself, doesn’t it?
The reason I asked if you are a Christian is because, if you aren’t, then there is really no point in talking to you about what the Bible says about demons. That’s all. You kind of have to believe in the fundamentals of the faith before you delve into the more esoteric matters.
Many people take a lot from Christianity without believing in every ‘fundamental’ as it is interpreted by all the various sects. (Attempting that would be a good way to go nuts.)
Generally, my experience when discussing subjects like this has been that the question is usually a challenge to believe as others have interpreted Scripture; or submit to a process of being convinced; or to argue with them. I obviously don’t interpret it all as many others do.
I have respect for organized religion for the good it has done in the world and the benefit many people have subjectively derived from it throughout history. But I’m not personally, subjectively, a ‘fan’. It seems to me an extremely ‘mixed blessing’, when one solitary individual comes along with a great new spiritual message, and other far lesser minds move in and try to ‘organize’ it.
A profound ambivalence is the approach I’ve found that works best for me, when it comes to organized religion and codified religious belief.