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City Man arrested outside Fla. hospice (College Prof Tasered after trying to bring Terri water)
Scranton Times-Tribune ^ | 3/30/2005 | Josh Brodesky

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.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: allterri; allthetime; banglist; bringingwater; deathcultivation; donutwatch; florida; floriduh; gestapo; goodgermans; govwatch; libertarians; luftwaffe; meinkampf; panzerkorps; pursley; schiavo; ss; ssdanzig; terrimania; terrischiavo; terrisfight; whackjobs
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To: Deguello
She can swallow. Why are they so bent out of shape that they have to forbid a dying woman from receiving a sip of water? We don't do that to convicted murderers.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
81 posted on 03/30/2005 7:08:00 AM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: quack
Yes and the Christian missionaries did not ask permission from the pagans to bring the eternal truth of God to the world. When the world is in darkness it needs the righteous to bear witness for it. For the world exists solely by their merit.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
82 posted on 03/30/2005 7:10:03 AM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: goldstategop
When the authorities do that which is evil, we are under no obligation to render them our obedience

Really? Where do you read that in there?

And, I wonder what godly crime did Jesus commit that he was crucified for? Or were the disciples wrong for letting him be led away? Seems I recall one of them tried to stop the guards from taking Him, and he was rebuked.

83 posted on 03/30/2005 7:10:12 AM PST by RedBloodedAmerican
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To: Kokojmudd
official flag of Pinella county florida
84 posted on 03/30/2005 7:15:44 AM PST by freepatriot32 (If you want to change goverment support the libertarian party www.lp.org)
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To: doc30

What the relatives of the others in the hospice should care about is that the level of caring is such that a young woman is dying of thirst. I am not insensitive. I care about the most important matter at hand. The Nazi comparisons in THIS CASE are inevitable and accurate.


85 posted on 03/30/2005 7:16:26 AM PST by Monterrosa-24 (Technology advances. Human nature is dependably stagnant.)
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To: freepatriot32

Laws what laws? You don't have to obey unjust laws. This guys is a hero.


86 posted on 03/30/2005 7:17:01 AM PST by sunnysky
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To: RedBloodedAmerican
Really? Where do you read that in there?

The adulteress who was being stoned to death comes to mind.It was the law that she be stoned to death,yet Jesus rescued her from that fate.

87 posted on 03/30/2005 7:17:55 AM PST by quack
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To: RedBloodedAmerican
The text speaks of authorities instituted by God for human benefit. It means then a government must act in accordance with certain moral norms. We owe it our loyalty. The contrary does not follow.

The Gospels transformed the crime the Romans committed into an act of martyrdom for Christians. It does not mean the Romans were in the right. Jesus suffered horribly for it and in the end good came of it. In the short term, evil can win but in the long run of history, what will happen is God's kingdom will be established here, on Earth.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
88 posted on 03/30/2005 7:19:39 AM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: Born Conservative
Would it be too much to hope for that the police would stop and ask themselves what law is violated by giving food and water to another human. This is ludicrous.
89 posted on 03/30/2005 7:20:07 AM PST by tioga
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To: RedBloodedAmerican
Literalism is a bad idea here. Paul isn't saying that the authority should be obeyed no matter what. Otherwise, there would have been no Christian martyrs; they would have renounced their faith when ordered to do so by the Roman authorities. Otherwise, Daniel would not have ended up in the lion's den. Paul is saying that when the governing authority does not command us to do something contrary to the higher law, then we should comply.

-A8

90 posted on 03/30/2005 7:20:49 AM PST by adiaireton8 ("There is no greater evil one can suffer than to hate reasonable discourse." - Plato, Phaedo 89d)
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To: quack
Good point. The roots of civil disobedience can be found in the Bible. When there is something unjust, the duty of an ethical person is to correct it for every one's benefit.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
91 posted on 03/30/2005 7:21:48 AM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: adiaireton8
Yes, exactly. As long as the government does not break God's laws and treats all people as His Children, we are commanded to obey it. This has been the Christian understanding of the relationship between state and religion. We owe legally constituted authorities a certain cooperation necessary for the functioning of society but it is not a license to command our unconditional obedience. Our response depends on what a governing authority does to act in keeping with the Higher Law to which all people are now subject to.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
92 posted on 03/30/2005 7:26:38 AM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: goldstategop
"from receiving a sip of water?"

A sip of water will take care of a body's daily requirements for fluids?

93 posted on 03/30/2005 7:27:49 AM PST by Deguello
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To: goldstategop
She can swallow. Why are they so bent out of shape that they have to forbid a dying woman from receiving a sip of water? We don't do that to convicted murderers.

They're all bent out of shape because if she gets a drink, she won't die (at least for that much longer, anyway.) They want her dead.
94 posted on 03/30/2005 7:30:25 AM PST by NationSoConceived ("Truth bestows no pardon upon error, but wipes it out in the most effectual manner." - M.B.E.)
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To: Born Conservative
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 7:31:17 AM PST by keysguy (Time to get rid of the UN and the ACLU)
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To: Deguello
You're right. Its no longer a matter of keeping her alive; its a matter of showing love and compassion for a dying person. Name me a society that arrests people for demonstrating their humanity for another human being. I find that offensive. So should every one.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
96 posted on 03/30/2005 7:35:50 AM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: keysguy
Shades of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World! It won't be long til we outlaw love and marriage. And procreation will be through state controlled baby factories and man will be raised to revere the state as his new god.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
97 posted on 03/30/2005 7:38:20 AM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: Monterrosa-24

You shouldn't be surprised. American cops are just as willing to commit murder as German cops. These cops are just as indoctrinated to their duty to give the state Blind Obedience as any German cop ever was. They are incapable of looking at their actions for what they are: They are giving direct assiatance to the murderers of Terri Schiavo. Every cop standing outside that hospice is already a murderer. The Catholic bishop, of course, will say nothing, even though Catholic teaching on the question could not be clearer.


98 posted on 03/30/2005 7:40:53 AM PST by Arthur McGowan
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To: Monterrosa-24

"...These protestors are a real pain to people who live in the area..."

Translation: "We missed the early bird special on account of these cotton pickin protestors!"


99 posted on 03/30/2005 7:41:30 AM PST by Kokojmudd (Today's Liberal is Tomorrow's Prospective Flying Saucer Abductee)
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To: goldstategop

It's around the corner as we speak, or type.


100 posted on 03/30/2005 7:41:53 AM PST by keysguy (Time to get rid of the UN and the ACLU)
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