[Jeb Stuart Thurmond]

This thread is to collect evidence of the systematic persecution of Christians. Whenever someone says we are not being persecuted, send them a link to this thread. Here's the first article:

Christian youth camp directors charged with dragging 15 year old girl behind van

Charles Eugene Flowers and Stephanie Bassitt, who run Love Demonstrated Ministries in San Antonio, have been arrested and charged with aggravated assault for tying a girl to their van and dragging her behind it on her stomach.

The victim had stopped running with a group of campers, after falling behind. She says Bassitt yelled at her while Flowers tied her to the van.
The girl was treated for injuries on her stomach, legs and arms. She reported that this was the second assault. Flowers and Bassitt remain in jail on $100,000 bond each.

Love Demonstrated Ministries is a 32 day Christian boot camp for girls whose parents feel they are "at risk teens". Such camps have raised controversy before.

2. Parking lot persecution!
3. Jesus rewards a hundredfold, satan persecutes a thousandfold!
4. Christian jailed for defending his daughters virginity!
5. America-haters threaten to socialize veteran's healthcare!
6. Christian jailed for teaching his daughters how to be good wives!
7. Christians not even allowed to urinate!
8. Christian cop suspended for having a bad day
9. First gun-control, now even torture device control
10. Christian headbutted in the foot by America-hater
11. Property rights in peril: Christian in trouble for writing his name on his own property
12. AGAIN, Christians expected to live without urinating. What, are they expecting us to move mountains too?
13. Christian students verbally assaulted with suggestion to note take Genesis literally
14. Gun-controlers persecute mother of 14-year-old
15. Proof that gun-control leads to Bible-control!
16. Rikki Lake feeds Christians to the lions
17. Christian and latter-day Isaac persecuted for demonstrating faith
18. Christians so persecuted they have to sell private jet to make ends meet
19. Minuteman founder's wife persecuted for pre-emptive rape claim
20. Three more examples of persecution!
24. Hummer drivers persecuted by NWO jack-booted thugs!
25. Christians persecuted for obeying Ten Commandments!
26. Republican minister arrested for pre-emptively defending against illegals
27. Conservative activist framed and persecuted
28. Excorcist waterboarder persecuted by freedom-hating government!
29. Football team persecuted by feminized public schools system
30. It's official! Freedom of Speech is DEAD!
31. Canada: a grim look at America's future!
32. Christian arrested for defending babies from murderer
33. Teachers persecuted for strip-searching 13-year old harlot
34. Dinosaur adventure land destroyed!
35. Obama's war on marriage hits Arkansas Evangelist's 5 wives

[tommy]

Simply appalling, brother Jeb, simply appalling.... It was their godly duty to teach a future Christian wife to be fit for her future Christian husband.
The holy Bible tells us:

1 Corinthians 6,20
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

Ephesians 5:29
For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

Christian camps are meant to introduce kids with Christian and Biblical values and that's exactly what the camp directors did. The girl and her parents should be grateful.

_________________________________

Yes, brother, Christians are being persecuted as we speak. And not only in God's favourite country, but worldwide, exactly as our good Lord Jesus Christ predicted:

Matthew 5:10-12
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you..

The situation is particulary bad in one of our allies, Sudi arabia, where persecution of Christians and even Christian tourists has become a traditon if not a sport. The mudslimes have declared it illegal to carry a Bible in their Godforsaken desert.

The article can be found here

Originally Posted by Christian post

If you are planning a trip to Saudi Arabia as the summer days wind down, you may want to think twice before taking your Bible with you. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as it is officially called, reportedly bans foreigners from bringing in Bibles, crucifixes, Stars of David and other religious non-Islamic items.
The heavily Muslim country threatens to confiscate them from foreign visitors along with other prohibited items such as narcotics, firearms and pornography, according to the web site of Saudi Arabian Airlines, the country’s national carrier.
“A number of items are not allowed to be brought into the kingdom due to religious reasons and local regulations,” states the airlines’ web site.
It goes on to say: “Items and articles belonging to religions other than Islam are also prohibited. These may include Bibles, crucifixes, statues, carvings, items with religious symbols such as the Star of David, and others.”

Perhaps our Supreme Leader ought to visit the towelheads once again and teach them another lesson.

[SalvationSeeker]

Vile pro-sodomite biased propaganda slandering Fred Phelps and his entire congregation:

The Westboro Baptist Church, of Topeka, Kansas, is a hate group masquerading as a Christian church. Led by the Rev. Fred Phelps, the misguided members of this church target homosexuals and a range of others with messages of hate. The church’s ourageous protest actions - the group prefers to picket funerals(!) - have earned the Phelps and his ilk much media coverage.

http://www.apologeticsindex.org/111-...baptist-church

Masquerading as a Christian church???? Excuse me?
So unless one preaches LIES instead of the Bible, one is a hate group and not a real Church?
Make no mistake, these fag enablers are all damned to hell! (Romans 1:32)

Jailing of preachers:

On June 29, 2003, Pentecostal Pastor Ake Green from Borgholm, Sweden was sentenced to one month of imprisonment for preaching a sermon which cited Biblical texts on homosexuality. The sermon was published in a local newspaper and Pastor Green was prosecuted for causing offense to the homosexual community.

http://www.becketfund.org/index.php/case/93.html

He's may not be a True Christian, but not even false feelgood Christians are safe anymore!
Atleast not in the devil's backyard: Sweden. - The coldest and most northern outpost of HELL!
It's actually a CRIME to say that it's sinful to be a sodomite there, it's criminal to "offend" a sodomite there.
But it's not criminal to offend a Christian, nor is it criminal to offend a hetrosexual person in general!

Well get this; You hellbound Swede bastards, God HATE you, and every fag & fag enabler will go STRAIGHT TO HELL! INCLUDING YOU!
Praise God!



And brothers, let's not forget about warriors & martyrs like Michael Bray who has been slandered as being "terrorists" by the lieberal media.
What they do is trying to stop an ongoing MASSACRE, and they get semt to jail for it!
And why? Because the victims are defenseless, and according to nazi lieberal philosophies, that makes killing them right.
God is not pleased however, and He will make sure that all abortionists get their due reward of painful death & eternal hellfire!

Praise Jesus and may all unbelivers BURN IN HELL!

[Virginia Day Templeton]

A heartwrenching tale from Sister Diane at Rapture Ready:

"My Jeep Liberty has the picture below on the wheel cover, the only difference being that the wheel cover is black and the print is silver. I also have my lovely Rapture Ready bumper sticker on the bumper.

So's here's what happened tonight. I went to the grocery store to pick up a prescription that I phoned in. There wasn't a car parked in front of my Jeep when I left the store, so I walked that way to the driver's door around and didn't go around the back of the Jeep. I put the Jeep in reverse and it felt like I hit something or had a flat tire. I put the Jeep in park, went around to the back of the Jeep and there was a shopping cart on the ground. There was no wind to blow the cart there. (I wish we had some wind - it would have blown away all the leaf burning smoke that was burning my sinuses.) The cart had to have been put there deliberately.

I thought about Matthew 5:11 as I was driving home. "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecuteyou, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake." To whoever didn't like my wheel cover, that's okay. I forgive you. I just hope you remember the Rapture Ready website address you must have saw on my bumper sticker and check it out. And I promise I won't put a shopping cart behind your car if I see something on it that I don't like."

[lilith]

"The victim had stopped running with a group of campers, after falling behind. She says Bassitt yelled at her while Flowers tied her to the van.
The girl was treated for injuries on her stomach, legs and arms. She reported that this was the second assault. Flowers and Bassitt remain in jail on $100,000 bond each"


Um....so,WHO was being persecuted then?

[Charles Whitman]

Those girls never should have gotten behind while running..proof along that they were weak, & probably becoming homers. I hope they learned a lesson from the Godly beating they received.

[Dr. Ernest C. Ville, D.C.S.]

It was recently brought to my attention the sickening torture endured by the High Point megachurch in Texas, who found out that their recently deceased (otherwise known as "punted to Hell by an angered Jesus") janitor was a homer! Luckily this tidbit was found hours before the funeral was to take place, so the disturbed pastor immediately cancelled the service. This bit of persecution truly worries my soul -- homers are now trying to take over our churches. I believe Brother Micky over at Rapture Ready explained this mindless torture best, saying:

Originally Posted by http://www.rr-bb.com/showthread.php?t=10962&page=5

Matthew 1: 10

10Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt loses it's saltiness, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

As you can see, we receive a "Blessing" when we are persecuted

It is truly sickening what we must endure these days. Come quickly Lord Jesus!

[Trent Harvey, Jr.]

Luckily, I'm in Iraq, and though Christians only make up 3% of the population here, we do not face persecution, at least not in any way comparable to what is happening in the "People's Republic of America". Every morning Christian, Shia, and Sunni children hold hands on a sunny hillside and sing a song of peace and staying the course. That's why I don't need an alarm clock.

Originally Posted by Virginia D. Templeton

A heartwrenching tale from Sister Diane at Rapture Ready:

Virginia, are you the worrywart who was spreading rumers that I might have become a casualty? I'll have you know that the streets of Iraq are safer than Detriot! Everybody here is armed, it's like an NRA convention with millions of participants.

So don't worry! Trying to keep soldiers alive hurts our morale!

[Jeb Stuart Thurmond]

Two of Brazil evangelical leaders jailed

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=287456

Saturday Aug 18 10:33 AEST

A judge in Miami has sentenced two of Brazil's best-known evangelical church leaders to 10 months confinement for using a Bible and their child's backpack to smuggle cash into the United States.

Estevam Hernandes and Sonia Moraes Hernandes, the husband-and-wife founders of the Reborn in Christ Church, pleaded guilty in exchange for leniency in sentencing to charges of smuggling more than $US56,000 ($A70,000) into a Miami airport.

"They were both given 10-month sentences split between house arrest and jail time," said a law clerk for Federico Morena, chief judge of the Florida Southern District Court.

Morena ordered Estevam Hernandes to begin serving his five months in jail on Monday, while his wife remains under house arrest in Miami, where the couple have children. After five months, the two will switch.

The couple's arrest in Miami last January fanned concerns about fraud at fast-growing evangelical churches in Brazil, the world's most-populous Catholic nation.

While most of Brazil's 185 million people still describe themselves as Catholic, evangelical and neo-evangelical churches have attracted some 26 million followers, or 15 per cent of the population, in recent decades.
The churches raise millions in revenue from their mostly poor followers via television programs and church services.

The Hernandes couple are the wealthy owners of a network of radio and television stations and more than 1,100 churches.

Prosecutors say they also have significant real estate holdings, including a luxury apartment in Miami.

(That's just proof that Jesus has rewarded them a hundredfold, as the Bible promises! This act of wetback tyranny speaks for itself!)

[Virginia Day Templeton]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,293714,00.html

Father Accused of Shooting, Paralyzing Daughter's Boyfriend After Finding Him in Closet
Saturday, August 18, 2007

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — A man accused of shooting and paralyzing his daughter's boyfriend has been charged with first-degree battery and a terroristic act.

George David Reed, 48, of Highfill was arrested July 31 in the shooting of Michael Austin Guzman, 19.

Reed was charged Friday in Benton County Circuit Court and is free on a $150,000 bond. His arraignment is set for Sept. 10.

Authorities say Reed came home and found Guzman hiding in the closet of his 17-year-old daughter's bedroom. Police said Reed beat Guzman with a pool stick, then left the room to retrieve a gun. Guzman and his girlfriend blocked the bedroom door with a dresser, and Reed began shooting through the door, police said.

A bullet struck Guzman in the back and lodged in his spinal cord, fracturing three vertebrae. Doctors don't expect Guzman to regain any feeling or mobility below his waist, authorities said.

If convicted, Reed faces up to life in prison.

[revzeke]

... On Saturday (051708), a precious 19 year-old university coed was looking at some of my martyrs art @ deviantArt, and made some comments --- exchanging some very personal messages with me...
... Going by: "MissBigMouthShout(...fortheSaviour)"...
... She was very thankful for comfort and courage she got from reading some of the martyrs' testimonies, but she wanted some assurance and some prayers offered up in behalf of herself and two other close Christian girlfriends...
... She & they are fully expecting to be arrested soon and probably put to death for their faith... Several of their friends have already been martyred, they pretty much know HOW they will die... (MBMSftS and her friends will likely be whipped & stoned almost to death, dismembered with a chain-saw & beheaded with a ceremonial scimitar, and at last, left exposed to nature)... This is a most common and deemed "appropriate" end for an "infidel" (esp a female) condemned under Islamic law...
... Several of their friends have already suffered this dire fate...
... They are students @ the University of Tehran in IRAN...
... What struck me close to home is that we, in this country, have NO real clue as to what it really means to BE Christians & pay the price for our confessions of faith...
... We're bored so easily while surrounded by so much...
... We plan "fun" activities for tomorrow --- while dear brothers & sisters plan for their own cruel executions and pray for grace to remain faithful, "enduring to the end"...
... Our precious Iranian sisters are probably blessed to be going "home" to be with Jesus --- forever at rest, beyond the pain and troubles of this world --- but what a tragic waste of life and human potential !!!
... It hit me hard because I've never had someone thank me like that in advance of experiencing a true martyrdom...
... She actually wrote on my two reflexology charts (hands & feet), that she hoped someone with my understanding of human anatomy and a measure of compassion would be there to hold her bruised, yet living members gently as they cut her up...
... Such unspeakably brave resolve !!!
... I'm SURE our Lord will send His angels to comfort her in that way...
... It's just awfully darned HARD to swallow !!!
... On her art site, she'd drawn some portraits and figures of herself and her friends --- ALL detailed but "faceless" (reminded me of some of our local Amish dolls)... [And, yes, from what shows --- they are absolutely beautiful young women --- full of life and vitality, with so many talents and unfulfilled dreams]...
... To be identifiable would definitely be grounds for certain trial and death, yet that's how their culture views them anyway --- w/o faces or any form of distinct God-given person-hood... How sad !!!
... They're NOT considered humans or of any societal value...

... My heart is hurting, so burdened for those who truly NEED help, and my arms can't reach out far enough...
... I know that HIS can, but this has gotten very personal for me, and I am feeling very helpless in their plight...
... I am SO humbled that God chose to use me and my art to, like the woman with the alabaster box, break that vessel of sweet perfume to (even at a distance) symbolically wash their feet and anoint these dear souls for their inevitable sacrifice ahead...
... They truly need and deserve our prayers...
... Thanks for being among the FEW who DO care !

WEDNESDAY AM (052108) UPDATE:
... I appreciate the continuing prayers and contact...
... I tried reconnecting w/ Iran around 0500 this am...
... Two of the three sites are gone now, and the third had been "stripped" from about 2 dozen illustrations to only two, then only one --- as I was watching...
... The one left was essentially a death note --- buzzards in a tree, near the local landfill, waiting for food...
... It was a photo, and our sister's attached comment was:
"... despite what these birds represent to MOST people I find the scene one of peace and rest from earthly labors and the likelihood of coming pain; I'm now ready to give myself to them..."
... I doubt there will be any further follow-up possible there...

... An Islamic "friend" to the girls, responded to me that "...the 'blaspheming infidels' had been duly disposed of, according to Allah's will"...
[... It's really hard not to hate someone with such a calloused attitude...] :-(...
... My only real regret I have to confess, is that I deleted most of our exchanges as being just too private for public viewing, AND I was too late to download copies of their artwork from our visit last weekend...
... I AM searching among mutual local friends' sites and gleaning a few "collected" works in order to later "blog" this otherwise untold account...
... Some were truly as inspiring as the words above...
... I DID screen-shot the buzzard pic and comment...
(Sorry, I have tried to link the jpeg photo to my response here, but I don't think it is working properly...)

... I have a sense of peace in my heart that this ordeal is over, and that our sisters' three sweet voices have been added to Heaven's choir... May we enter Heaven's gates, worthy of their fellowship...
... Keep praying for so many other dear brothers and sisters --- facing this same fate, daily...
... That last website was off-line Thursday (052208)

PS: You can view some of my martyrs' art and future vision art --- with full text accounts @ deviant art link deleted

[Ezekiel Bathfire]

What's all that^^ about? A self-publicist?

[WilliamJenningsBryan]

Originally Posted by revzeke

.....
... She & they are fully expecting to be arrested soon and probably put to death for their faith... Several of their friends have already been martyred, they pretty much know HOW they will die... (MBMSftS and her friends will likely be whipped & stoned almost to death, dismembered with a chain-saw & beheaded with a ceremonial scimitar, and at last, left exposed to nature)... This is a most common and deemed "appropriate" end for an "infidel" (esp a female) condemned under Islamic law...
... Several of their friends have already suffered this dire fate...
... They are students @ the University of Tehran in IRAN...
... What struck me close to home is that we, in this country, have NO real clue as to what it really means to BE Christians & pay the price for our confessions of faith...
.....

Friend, you tell a heart wrenching story that is all too common in the depraved journals of Islam. You can take solace in the righteous vengeance of the Lord and our Godly President GWB. He has already disemboweled tens of thousands of mooselimbs with our shells of depleted uranium and bunker buster bombs. With our 100 year bases in Iraq our next president McCain will soon be able to continue that battle into Iran and avenge those unjust deaths of which you so eloquently speak.

Glory!

[Pastor Ezekiel]

Here's an example of Christians being persecuted up in Canada, a hotbed of liberalism!

Controversial church loses charity licence

An evangelical church that used donor money to pay for gym memberships, Gucci fashion accessories and trips to Hawaii and elsewhere for its directors has been stripped of its charitable licence by the federal government.

The Dominion Christian Centre of Canada was set up in Hamilton by charismatic leader Peter Rigo, a former decorator who says a divine power summoned him in the year 2000 to “encourage believers to live effectively as Christians.” Rigo has said Dominion is a great church praying for the revitalization of downtown Hamilton; at least one family claims it is a cult and faces criminal charges for trying to remove their daughter.

After an audit of the church’s books, sparked by critics of its activities, the federal charity regulator has told the Dominion group that its assets have been misused, spent for the “private benefit” of Rigo, his wife and others.

The regulator found that money contributed by donors and destined for good works was instead paid to fund “numerous personal trips, payments for privately used vehicles, gym memberships, food, lodging and other unsubstantiated payments.”

Among the expenses that raised eyebrows, auditors say, were numerous purchases at “expensive fashion outlets such as Gucci and Dolce Gabbana.”

The audit, obtained by the Star, says the transgressions of Rigo, his wife, Peggy (also a pastor), and assistant pastor Dave Barhouma were many.

In response to the allegations, church leaders told the regulator that poor bookkeeping made it hard for them to address many of the concerns auditors had. The audit states that about a year ago, the church agreed to stop paying for food, trips, gym memberships and haircuts for church leaders. However, the audit goes on to say that a year later, the church had not addressed the issues raised by the audit, giving rise to the revocation of its licence.
[...]

Peter Rigo and Barhouma were previously on the board of directors, as well as being officials of the church. The audit states they have recently resigned from their board positions. New members of the board, the audit states, include relatives of Barhouma.
[...]

In 2005, police accused Dr. Renato Brun Del Re, 53, of kidnapping and forcible confinement after he was allegedly involved in kidnapping his daughter in an attempt to deprogram her from what he said at the time was a cult.

[Jeb Stuart Thurmond]

Jack-booted thugs hunting down American patriots!

MIAMI (Reuters) -- The former head of UBS AG's wealth management business, Raoul Weil, was formally declared a fugitive Tuesday after failing to surrender to U.S. authorities on charges of conspiring to help wealthy Americans...hide $20 billion of assets in Swiss bank accounts in order to avoid paying U.S. taxes.

Only under a Democrat administration:

Switzerland-based UBS, one of the world’s largest financial firms, has agreed to pay a $780 million fine and reveal the names of its U.S. clients with overseas accounts following a lawsuit by the [Kenyan-occupied] Justice Department.

In a first-of-its-kind case, the settlement exposes what [commiecrat] authorities long suspected: Americans are using Swiss banks to avoid paying federal taxes.

“At a time when millions of Americans are losing their jobs, their homes and their health care, it is appalling that more than 50,000 of the wealthiest among us sought to evade their duty to pay taxes,” said John A. DiCicco, acting assistant attorney general. [aka socialist commisar].

[Pastor Ezekiel]

Activist Judge Orders Christian Woman to Stop Teaching From The BIBLE!

A judge in Wake County said three Raleigh children need to switch from home school to public school. Judge Ned Mangum is presiding over divorce proceeding of the children's parents, Thomas and Venessa Mills.

Venessa Mills was in the fourth year of home schooling her children who are 10, 11 and 12 years old. They have tested two years above their grade levels, she said.

"We have math, reading; we have grammar, science, music,” Venessa Mills said.

Her lessons also have a religious slant, which the judge said was the root of the problem.

"My teaching is strictly out of the Bible, and it's very clear. It is very evident so I just choose to follow the Bible,” Venessa Mills said.

In an affidavit filed Friday in the divorce case, Thomas Mills stated that he "objected to the children being removed from public school." He said Venessa Mills decided to home school after getting involved with Sound Doctrine church "where all children are home schooled."

Thomas Mills also said he was "concerned about the children's religious-based science curriculum" and that he wants "the children to be exposed to mainstream science, even if they eventually choose to believe creationism over evolution."

In an oral ruling, Mangum said the children should go to public school.

"He was upfront and said that, 'It's not about religion.' But yet when it came down to his ruling and reasons why, 'He said this would be a good opportunity for the children to be tested in the beliefs that I have taught them,'" Venessa Mills said.

All sides agree the children have thrived with home school, and Vanessa Mills thinks that should be reason enough to continue teaching at home.

"I cannot sit back and allow this to happen to other home schoolers. I don't want it happening to my children,” Venessa Mills said.

Mangum said he wouldn't talk with WRAL News Thursday about the details of the case because he hasn't issued a written ruling yet. He said he expected to sign it in a few weeks.

An estimated 71,566 students were taught at home during the 2007-08 school year, according to figures released by the state Division of Non-Public Education. The enrollment amounts to about 4 percent of students ages 7 to 16 in North Carolina – students in that age range are required by state law to attend school. About two-thirds of the schools classified themselves as religious schools.

Home school students and their parents plan to come to Raleigh on March 24 to lobby at the state Legislature. They want to demonstrate they have a strong voice regarding education.

We need to support these Christian Homeschooled children with all of our hearts! Wreite to your congressman today and urge them to take action!!

NO MORE PERSECUTING CHRISTIAN FAMILIES!!!

[Pastor Ezekiel]

[Nobar King]

Here's another one for your evidence file. NO PRAYING AT COLLEGE!!

Christian students sue Peralta college district, saying they were disciplined for praying

By Peter Hegarty

04/09/2009


ALAMEDA — Two students are suing the Peralta Community College District, arguing that their civil rights were violated after administrators at the College of Alameda threatened to suspend them for praying on campus. Kandy Kyriacou and Ojoma Omaga, who are Christian, say they were formally threatened with suspension a year and a half ago when an instructor became angry with them after witnessing Kyriacou praying with another instructor.


"The main thrust of our case is that private prayer between consenting adults cannot be prohibited by the government," said attorney Kevin Snider of the Pacific Justice Institute, a nonprofit group that specializes in cases involving religion, parental rights and civil liberties. Along with seeking to have their suspension letters rescinded, Kyriacou and Omaga want the district to revise its student conduct policy to allow student prayer and religious expression. They also want the district to pay their attorney and court costs.


Peralta spokeswoman Shirleen Schermerhorn declined to comment on the case, which was filed Dec. 24 in U.S. District Court. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston on March 31 rejected an attempt by the college district to dismiss the case, a ruling that the students' attorneys say indicates their lawsuit has merit.

"It's not about money at all, it's about principle," said Steven Wood, a Walnut Creek attorney who filed the lawsuit. "The students want the district to admit that it was wrong, apologize and recognize that they have the right to take part in nondisruptive prayer."


According to court documents, Kyriacou was praying with an instructor in December 2007 — after the instructor said she was feeling ill — when another instructor entered the office and told the student that praying was not allowed. Soon afterward, Kyriacou was talking with Omaga in a hallway, where the same instructor confronted them and said, "You can't be doing that in there. That's our office."


Less than a week later, both students received letters informing them that they were being suspended, citing violation of Section III.A.12 of the district's student conduct policy, which reads, "Disruptive or insulting behavior, willful disobedience, habitual profanity or vulgarity; or the open and persistent defiance of the authority of, refusal to comply with directions of, or persistent abuse of, college employees in the performance of their duty on or near the school premises or public sidewalks adjacent to school premises."


Peralta administrators later backed away from the suspensions after meeting with the students and their attorney. Instead, administrators formally warned the women that they cannot engage in disruptive behavior.


Wood said Wednesday that he will meet with Peralta lawyers within the next several weeks to try to resolve the case, including through mediation. He said they are seeking a revision of the district's policy so that prayers would not be prohibited as long as they are not disruptive. If they cannot reach agreement, the case could go to a jury, Wood said.


Kyriacou and Omaga routinely pray while at school, according to court documents. According to the complaint, "They sometimes take short breaks to quietly pray with each other or with other classmates on the balcony outside class," and Kyriacou "occasionally makes quiet, nondisruptive personal prayers during class and lab, such as saying 'Lord Jesus, help me.' "