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.
"Onward, Christian Soldiers!
Marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus
Going on before;
Christ, the royal master,
Leads against the foe;
Forward into battle,
See, His banners go!
Onward, Christian Soldiers!
Marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus
Going on before.
Like a mighty army,
Moves the Church of God:
Brothers, we are treading,
Where the saints have trod;
We are not divided,
All one body we,
One in hope, in doctrine,
One in Charity...."
Again you prove to be disgustingly insensitive. There are 70 other residents at this hospice and all you care about is Terri. I'm sure the families of those 70 people are going to put aside their grief and sorrow around their own blood relatives to side with all the Terri supporters. I can hear it now, "My mom is dying of cancer, but it is more important to save Terri. Sorry Mom, I can't be with you in your last days because of the Terri supporters. I'm sorry you won't be with us much longer, but it is really important to be with the protestors to help save Terri. Mom, you aren't as important as she is. But maybe you can join the protestors, too."
Also, you are really sick for comparing what's going on in my town with Nazi Germany. It is horrible that you would compare the deaths of tens of millions of people at the hands of the Nazis. You cheapen their deaths and trash their memories. How you are proud of yourself. Perhaps you need to check the facts of this case to show how wrong you are. But then again, with you callous disregard for anyone but Terri, you likely want Jeb Bush and George Bush to use their executive powers in a dictatorial way, just like Hitler did. By having them do an end run around the courts and by having them break the law to save Terri, then we would be in a dictatorship. Is that what you really want?
Did you read post #13??? Your expressed opinion is identical to the Nazi position: that the "law" requires blind obedience, and that those who follow orders are without blame.
"Oh really? Righteous, huh?
Then call God a liar all you want, but stay away from me, thanks.
Romans 13
1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore he who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of him who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain; he is the servant of God to execute his wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be subject, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing
Ummm....those aren't my words, either."
Then were the Founding Father's wrong to declare independence from Britain?
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
It's already considered 'heteronormative deviant' for a woman to say she loves her husband when speaking on a college campus.
It very much appears to me that "1984" and "Brave New World" were not warnings, as much as they were instruction manuals.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Read post 13. Nazism is more than mass killing. It often involved the manipulation of the law for the advancement of an expedient view of life. Read John Toland's ADOLF HITLER. There are so many good comparisons to this case and the fine line walked by men like Eichman who, as Toland points out, was investigated by a German prosecutor under the surviving framework of real law in Germany during the final months of Nazi power.
If this kind of court decision is allowed to stand without bitter protest, we are at the slippery slope indeed and YOU are an accessory by worrying about easy access instead of the issue at hand. Yes there are other patients in the hospice. But they are getting some care. What the actions of the dehydration-lovers say to those patients too is..."Die and get out of the way".
Probably gave some Germans a measure of solace to invoke Romans 13.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
He jumped over a fence and almost made it to the doors! Look at him...he's an older man, and HE JUMPED A FENCE TO TRY TO SAVE TERRI!!!!!
Cowards! The professor, OTOH, is a hero. I'd trust him with my life.
"...In the name of the so-called "greater good." "
This case is catching us up to Holland and the duty to die crowd. But Dylan Thomas's DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT shows the real love of a son for his dying father. It is man's duty to fight for every possible breath even though there will be great peace after the fight.
Yes, that man is a hero. He did something while I just type.
Inappropriately harsh punishment for minor "misdeeds" is a sure sign of government oppression.
Pardon me while I don't shed any tears for them.
It could be worse for them. They could be being starved to death.
This guy wasn't using water as a symbol...In my opinion, he expected to gain entry to the hospital. From what I heard, he went over a fence and almost made it to the doors! That's why he is facing more serious charges and was actually tasered!
Again, that is a very insensitive thing to say. Who are these people that are advocating mass murder? Or are you just extrapolating, without evidence, from your hyperbolie?
If these protestors are so caring and compassionate, they can protest with more solid temperment. They can make their point without convicting everyone, nor does everyone else need to be a protestor.
I've also looked at the court records and heard the stories of both sides of the case. To me, it seems the law was not manipulated to suite one person's aims, but it functioned as it was supposed to.
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