I rewatched the film recently, and I discovered that Father Damien Karras's internal battle for faith was much more interesting than the humorously dated visuals.
You don't need to believe in God to appreciate Merrin's answer to Karras's question. Translated into a less religious tone, the essence of what Merrin says boils down to: "Even though we are capable of being possessed by evil and being afflicted by suffering, we are worthy of love."
Karras
Why this girl? It makes no sense.
Merrin
I think the point is to make us despair. To see ourselves as animal and ugly. To reject the possibility that God could love us.
For many people, including Father Karras, it's difficult to believe all of the religious stuff that Father Merrin represents: the idea of God, the idea of life after death, the belief that our lives have some sort of objective purpose, and so forth. For much of the film, Karras lives in a state of lost faith, which is precipitated by the no-win situation of his mother's living situation, and ultimately, her death.
However, Karras's confrontation with evil (the demon possessing Regan) has the opposite effect of pushing him into total faithlessness. Although Karras's reclamation of his faith is not explicitly stated in the film, I believe that it is illustrated by his act of martyrdom when he throws himself out of the window. By killing himself in order to kill the demon, he is pulling a Jesus: he sacrifices himself so that Regan (a corrupted child) can be free of the demon (sin).
Some might argue that Karras's noble suicide could have been done in a state of total faithlessness. It could be that his depression had reached the point where he wanted to be dead, and that he figured he might as well try to kill Pazuzu (the demon) while he's at it.
However, his death is still figuratively and visually a leap of faith. Trust me: if you're writing a movie, and you want to show somebody killing themselves without having faith, then don't make them do it by leaping.
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