Monday, October 5, 2009
News Berry College 'exorcism' proves Rome, Ga., is Satan's playground
Posted by Thomas Wheatley @thomaswheatley on Mon, Oct 5, 2009 at 3:44 PM
Hmm, I wonder what students at Berry College in Rome, Ga., are talking about these days.
I'll just go take a look at Viking Fusion, the awesomely named news site operated by Berry students and overseen by faculty.
OK! According to Viking Fusion, some students at the private four-year school are baffled after a resident assistant performed an alleged exorcism on a former student late last month.
Junior Nathan Mallory said he performed the exorcism during one of the nightly Bible study sessions held in his dorm room. In attendance that night was a Rome resident and former Berry student who had transferred earlier this year.Mallory said he prayed with the student before the session began, at which point, he said, she began to “weep very hard.” Mallory said he saw this as a sign.
“So far, whenever this happens, it has been a sign of the Holy Spirit,” he said. “And that night, or very shortly afterward, that person receives an ‘Acts-style’ filling of the Holy Spirit.”
I think we have a blog post!
After praying, Mallory said he and others gathered in his room began to sing songs of worship. During this time, Mallory said, the student began to say “no, no, no.”Mallory said he recognized this to be a sign of demon possession, similar to the ones he had seen in India, where he visited this summer. He said he saw several exorcisms performed during his time in India.
Mallory said he began to pray with the student and the other two students in the room with them. He said he then began to share his personal story of his experience with Christ and the time he spent in India.
“That’s when it showed itself. Her face changed right in front of me, and the most evil, hideous grin came on her face, and her eyes seemed to turn red,” Mallory said in an e-mail he sent to all WinShape residents detailing the events that followed. Mallory said he “prayed that the Holy Spirit would take over, and he did.” He also said the student was not restrained or touched at any point during the exorcism.
“It didn’t take long for that demon’s smirk to turn into complete agony and pain,” Mallory said. “But no one was touching her, except for God’s angels.”
Viking Fusion reports that Mallory was relieved of his RA duties after the alleged exorcism. Campus officials, who are investigating the incident, told the site that they support students' right to religious expression. But they thought Mallory should have contacted a counselor or chaplain beforehand.
Viking Fusion staffers interviewed Mallory, students and religion professors. They've also uploaded the email Mallory sent to Pilgrim Hall residents describing the incident and an email campus officials sent to students about the event. Check out the entire story, because it provides more context, details and background of the part of campus where the alleged exorcism took place.
So what do we take away from this? Can the simple hands of mankind, empowered with the sword of Jesus Christ, evict Mephisto from the depths of a tortured person's body? Did the devil indeed come down to Georgia? And if he left, did he first visit our swell aquarium? We have no clue. But this quote from Berry College Dean of Students Debbie Heida kind of succinctly puts things in perspective.
“There are obviously a lot of religious events that go on at Berry each week,” Heida said. “But a college campus is not a place for an exorcism.”
Amen.
Below, a Viking Fusion report of the alleged exorcism aftermath.
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