Greer, vilified by many religious protesters, is a church regular. He also is a conservative Republican in a state whose conservative Republican governor tried to overturn one of Greer's orders.

"George is the religious right," said lawyer David Kurland, a longtime friend.

Friends say Greer's intellect is perfectly formed to withstand the very tempest he now faces. Always calm, not prone to mood swings or flares of temper, unerringly polite, he is not easily ruffled, they say.

But the criticisms sting, friends say. His relationship with his church, for example, has changed.

"He's been through a lot of storms in his life," said Mary Repper, a political consultant and friend. "This is just another one. George takes everything in stride."

[...]

Greer said he is sometimes baffled by the more hateful criticism. He said his faith has not been shaken.

"What's so exasperating is that my faith is based on forgiveness because that's what God did," Greer said. "When I see people in my faith being extremely judgmental, it's very disconcerting."

But he follows the law, he said. "There are no Ten Commandments out there," he said, pointing to his outer office.

"My oath is to follow the law, and if I can't follow the law, I need to step down," he said.

Critics who condemn him in the religious press, he said, "have nothing to do with my relationship with God. They can't affect it."

He accepts the security precautions, Greer said, as a necessary inconvenience. But he acknowledges that his wife worries.

"I can't dwell on it. I'm not going to do anything stupid. But I'm not going to dig a hole and crawl into it. ... This isn't Colombia. This isn't drug lords terrorizing the judiciary. It's America."

He realizes that whatever his accomplishments, he will always be remembered for the Schiavo case.

And Greer's answer to the indignant protester who called asking if he thought he was going to heaven: yes.

[link via commenter Pudentilla on Political Animal]

(Bizarre fact: Greer was a college roommate of Jim Morrison of The Doors.)

Update: Talk Left takes a good look into the career of James D. Wittemore, the Clinton-appointed Federal judge who has now ruled against a temporary restraining order forcing Terri Schiavo's feeding tube back in.