Since that article was written, it has also been discovered that garter snakes are venomous, as well.
They produce a mild neurotoxic venom that, fortunately, is quite harmless to humans.
In my experience, Pentecostals are known for “living ‘closter’ to the Word.” They believe in the literal truth of the Bible.
The congregation believes in snake handling and drinking strychnine as a show of faith, although only some do it, and not only preachers. Some practice it off and on for years and survive.
They all “speak in tongues” when so moved during a service. They also “dance in rapture,” if I’m not mistaken. (Pentecostals.) There are many offshoots of charasmatic churches. My high school best friend was a Holy Roller (can’t remember the exact name of her church. During ‘praying time’ it was a cacophany of gibberish but nobody ever rolled down the aisle, which disappointed me because I’d read about it in the World Book.)
If a person grows up in a church like that they just believe it. If they learn different it’s still hard to break away. It’s my belief that the cocoon/womb sense of acceptance and safety within such a community is difficult to shed.
I think the guy who started the whole snake-handling thing died of a rattler bite.
IIRC, it’s a very small sect that does it anyways, so if that’s the case, bite on, little snakies, bite on!
I thought snakes were unclean ever since the devil posed as one?
Cool. I will need to read the menu at the herp club banquets more closely in the future. Thank you.
Some stupid things that come to mind:
- And yet, what if a pregnant Pentecostalist handled a snake, survived the bite but miscarried?
(I think I just arrrived at the Elegant Solution.)
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What’s really disturbing is that these idiots still are more electable as POTUS than an atheist.
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If you divide your time between producing movies in Hollywood, arranign financing in NYC, and handling snakes in WV, does that make you a Bi-coastal Pentecostal?
There used to be more of them; I wonder what happened to them all? When I was a kid in Virginia, I heard about snake handlers in my grandparents town.
Snakes got busy!
Only if the Secret Service keeps them away from snakes during the campaign.
you gotta be a herper?
An interesting piece from CNN.com’s Belief Blog on snake-handling and Rev. Wolford’s death: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/01/death-of-snake-handling-preacher-shines-light-on-lethal-appalachian-tradition/?iref=obinsite
Very interesting! Thanks for that link.
How many of those followers croak because of drinking strychnine?
~VOW
It lowers activity of glycine receptors. I wonder if they pound a bunch of activity increasing amino acids beforehand and drink dilute strychnine that it might make a good show. Stuff like glycine, alanine, or taurine (Red Bulls?) might help. Of course, strychnine might be so powerful that you’d have to ingest more amino acids than humanly possible, I dunno.
Now there’s a debate I’d like to see.
Hey, if I give you my wife’s e-mail address, can you send this to her?
It’s a good thing I’m not a believer, because that article caused me to take the Lord’s name in vain more than I’ve ver done in a ten-minute period before.
And so you shall!: Would a snake-handler be more electable as POTUS than an atheist? - Great Debates - Straight Dope Message Board
The book Salvation on Sand Mountain is about “snake-handling” churches and a pastor who tried to kill his wife by having a rattlesnake bite her. The events in the book took place near where I grew up in Alabama. The incident generated a lot of media coverage at the time (at least in Alabama).
They’re only “unclean” in the same sense as they aren’t kosher- it’s all the same level of ritual uncleanliness. Technically, a Christian following that particular set of laws shouldn’t pat a dog, handle pork, have sex with a woman who’s menstruating, etc.
Slightly off-topic: I walked away from what would’ve been a Pit-worthy argument once with a Christian woman banging on about how evil, cruel and inhuman all Muslims must be because their extremists are forbidden to touch dogs. I commented once, explaining the logic behind the rule, and she started saying that I must be some stupid uneducated heathen who “thinks terrorists read the Torah”.
As a matter of fact, albeit in a very, very altered form, they likely do.
:smack: