Posted on 03/30/2005 6:01:21 AM PST by Born Conservative
Dr. Dow Pursley, Ed.D, returned home from teaching an ethics class Monday night at Baptist Bible College and Seminary and told his wife Joanne he was flying to Florida to protest against Terri Schiavo's impending death.
The family counseling professor booked the first flight out of town -- a 4 a.m. red-eye Tuesday -- and the couple of 37 years then spent the balance of the night praying.
Advertisement Click Here! Later Tuesday morning Dr. Pursley, 56, was shocked with a Taser stun gun and arrested by Pinellas Park (Fla.) police on charges of attempted burglary and resisting arrest without violence after he tried to bring two bottles of water to Mrs. Schiavo's hospice room.
Dr. Pursley, of the city's Hill Section, never reached Woodside Hospice's doors, police said.
"He said he needed to be there, and I said 'I understand,' " Mrs. Pursley said of the couple's conversation late Monday night.
They never talked of any specific actions, and she figured he was going to protest with prayer, she said.
"It was very late," she said. "We just prayed."
She did not know of her husband's arrest until a Times-Tribune reporter called her Tuesday afternoon seeking comment.
Still, she said the arrest hardly surprised her. She described her husband as a "passionate" man of "conviction" and "action" and said he was "overwhelmed" Monday night about Mrs. Schiavo's impending death.
"He is driven by his conviction about the sanctity of life," she said.
Of his decision to bring Mrs. Schiavo water, she added, "He was compelled to do what he did. That was between him and God."
Dr. Pursley is the 47th protester to be arrested, and the first to be shocked with a Taser stun gun since Ms. Schiavo's feeding tube was removed 13 days ago. Efforts to reach Pinellas Park Police spokesman Sanfield Forseth about the use of force were unsuccessful.
Mrs. Pursley said she spoke with her husband Monday afternoon from Pinellas County Jail, where he was remanded in lieu of $20,500 bail. Police said a hearing on his case is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. today.
A supporter in Florida has since posted Dr. Pursley's bond, and he will be released later today, Mrs. Pursley said.
The father of three and grandfather of six has received full support from his family, Mrs. Pursley said, as well as numerous calls and prayers from faculty and staff at the Clarks Summit college where he has been a full-time professor in its graduate school of Counseling Ministries for the past five years.
Mark Robbins, spokesman for the college, said Dr. Pursley's actions did not reflect the college's position on the Terri Schiavo case.
"He was not representing the school at all," Mr. Robbins said. "He was acting on his own behalf."
Mr. Robbins said Baptist Bible College and Seminary has no official position on the right-to-die case.
"It's a complicated issue," he said. "We certainly pray for and have sympathy for the Schindler and Schiavo families."
Asked if Dr. Pursley could be reprimanded for his arrest, Mr. Robbins said it was too soon to tell.
"It's hard to speak to what may be discussed a week or a month from now," he said. "We encourage our faculty to be involved in the community. Obviously each person takes that to a matter of degree. Dr. Pursley is a man of action and conviction."
Mr. Robbins added the college's administration has yet to contact Dr. Pursley.
Dr. Pursley is the clinical director of counseling programs at Baptist Bible College and Seminary. He received his master's degree in psychology from the University of Central Arkansas and his doctorate in education from the University of Arkansas.
been telling you guys for years how screwed up pinellas county law enforcement and judicial system is.
"...To me, it seems the law was not manipulated to suite one person's aims, but it functioned as it was supposed to."
If you think the parents should have no say and the estranged husband should have complete power then you perhaps have an agenda too. You are strangely selective in what you view as "insensitive".
All it takes is one call to the FDLE they can and will clean it up. They are the real McCoy in Fla. And now you see why they are so desperately needed and why locals will do anything to keep them out.
Just following orders, hum?
I think our peaceful thread is being infiltrated again.
No, they weren't wrong. In fact, that was the exact right thing to do, and that's the reason they did declare independance. They appealed and failed and declared independance. Are people declaring independance from America now?
And, after they declared independance, the fight was brought to them and they defended themselves.
Good point, however,didnt he appeal to the law makers at that time?
And he didn't rescue her so much as pointed out that they were already under the same condemnation.
Amen, Rob. I was appalled when I read the statement from the college as well. Unbelievable.
"No, they weren't wrong. In fact, that was the exact right thing to do, and that's the reason they did declare independance. They appealed and failed and declared independance. Are people declaring independance from America now?
And, after they declared independance, the fight was brought to them and they defended themselves."
I can't disagree with anything you wrote here. Now the Boston Tea Party occurred a couple years before the Declaration of Independence. You threw out Romans 13 to be provacative. Was the Boston Tea Party wrong? Nobody had declared independence yet.
My point is a lot of Christians over the years have invoked Romans 13 as an excuse to do nothing. Good thing our Christian Founding Fathers didn't do that.
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
Acts 4:18-20
Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
James 2:14-16
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
Indeed, what good is your Christian faith if you stand by and allow anyone to be starved to death! I commend all those who have been arrested - they have a faith that is shown in their deeds.
He might as well order the hospice painted purple and order the nurses there to wear pink underwear. If he did people would think he was crazy and ignore his order. - and yet when he orders a disabled woman starved to death ....
The founding fathers did the right thing and likely knew Romans 13 by heart. They appealed. They changed the law. The laws in Florida obviously need changing in this area. That's one of the nice things about living in a democratic society, isn't it?
They didn't change the law - they seceeded - exactly like several southern states attempted to do in 1861 - only the "revolution" attempted by the south in 1861 failed. History rewritten by the victors.
This is what I call the "easy bust syndrome".
It's a lot harder to bust real criminals, drug dealers, thieves, murderers but his guy is "real easy" to get. You can ever call backup, use the taser, use the cuffs, it must be great fun for some of the easy busters.
It's a lot harder to take the guy aside and ease him back to safety. That takes "real" police work that obviously is not taught in Pasco or Pinellas counties."
95 posted on 03/30/2005 10:31:17 AM EST by keysguy (Time to get rid of the UN and the ACLU)
That is the absolute truth! These "peace" officers should be ashamed of themselves.
They changed the laws they were under by seceeding and thats the whole just of the term declaration of independance.
Did Jesus ever break a law?
Haven't we done the same?When the lawmakers went against Gods word,did he stop his ministry or healing?Remember,they told him to stop,called him a blasphemer,and charged him with inciting riots. And he didn't rescue her so much as pointed out that they were already under the same condemnation.
He rescued her from a mob willing to stone her to death and from eternity away from him.He told her to,"Go and sin no more".To the mob,"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."One led to the other,simply by not allowing the law to be used as a method of murder.
let me point this out:
I don't have a problem with anyone going and taking water or whatever to Terri and getting arrested. You want to do that with your churchs name on your back, fine. but don't go saying Jesus told you to, or it's righteous, or that you are doing God's work....or whatever.
Jesus of Nazareth never, ever violated a law. Ever. In fact, He even stated he came to fulfill the law. Never did he break a law in performing a miracle. He never did. "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." What does that mean if Caesar says "no water for Terri"?
re: the stoning:
Jesus didnt break any laws by pointing out they had sin. The people stoning her stoppped of their own volition. Jesus did not break any laws. He did not grab her and run away. He didnt put a shield over her. They stopped on their own, they didn't have to stop.
So, if your interpretation of Romans 13 is correct, then Stalin and Mao starving/murdering 47 million people was doing the Lord's work.
The problem with the letters written to the Churches (which is what the New Testament is primarily made of) is that they are terribly contradictory.
It is my view that the Word of God is flawless. It is also my view that the Bible was actually written/translated by man. And we are terribly flawed.
But what's with the burglary charge? AFAIK, he never made it up to the building, but even if he had, it wouldn't be burgarly. Trespassing, yes. Perhaps breaking and entering, if the door or window was locked.
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