A resident hall adviser at a small Christian school was removed from his position for performing what he said was an "exorcism" on a fellow student he decided was possessed by the devil.
Nathan Mallory, a junior at Berry College in Georgia, was hosting a Bible study in his dorm room on Sept. 21 when he noticed a female student behaving oddly, according to student media Web site the Viking Fusion.
The paper said the unidentified woman — who has since transferred to another school — was repeating the word "no" as the other students around her sang hymns.
Mallory decided her behavior was a sign of demonic possession and began to pray with her, he wrote in an e-mail sent to his dorm residents.
"That's when it showed itself," he said in the e-mail, which was obtained by the Fusion. "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."
The R.A. said he "prayed the Holy Spirit would take over, and he did."
Berry College, however, criticized Mallory's actions. Dean of Students Debbie Heida said a school campus is an inappropriate place for an exorcism and removed him from his R.A. post.
Mallory said he didn't touch or restrain the woman during the ritual, which he deemed a success. He said he'd do things differently next time around and warned others to follow suit.
"You cannot go around looking to fight Satan head-on like that," he said. "If the Holy Spirit is not in control of the situation, you better be physically prepared to try to survive something."
Click here for more from the Viking Fusion.
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