# Snake-handling pastor dies of snakebite. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 16, 2014, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-handling-pastor-dies-of-snakebite/681489 "2014-02-16T19:47:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-handling-pastor-dies-of-snakebite/681489/41 "2014-02-17T20:18:29Z")
Priests in Ireland are certainly permitted to play with Irish snakes, but only if no pleasure is taken. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-handling-pastor-dies-of-snakebite/681489/42 "2014-02-17T21:02:27Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > Goes oddly with your tag-line. > > Anyway, guy believed in something I don’t (and consider rather silly), got snakebit and died of it, so I GUESS THAT’LL LEARN HIM! HAW HAW HAW!!! Ha, I didn’t even think about that! (It’s actually to [celebrate](http://youtu.be/QTev5pSuYLk) the Olympics this month. “Do You Believe in Miracles” didn’t fit. :() ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-handling-pastor-dies-of-snakebite/681489/43 "2014-02-17T21:10:52Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > Welp, that’s the last time he’ll handle snakes on this Plane. All his church members can do now is sing _Fangs For The Memories_. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-handling-pastor-dies-of-snakebite/681489/44 "2014-02-17T21:12:49Z")
I have a small amount of respect that he stayed true to his stated beliefs and didn’t seek medical help. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-handling-pastor-dies-of-snakebite/681489/45 "2014-02-17T22:51:19Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > Priests in Ireland are certainly permitted to play with Irish snakes, but only if no pleasure is taken. Ah, there you’re wrong - they have no objection to pleasure when it comes to snake-handling as long as they are authentic Irish ophidians. What’s more, no Irish priest has ever been fatally bitten by an Irish snake, nor even needed medical attention for it. True story. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-handling-pastor-dies-of-snakebite/681489/46 "2014-02-17T23:00:49Z")
He didn’t die from the venom. He died of boadom. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-handling-pastor-dies-of-snakebite/681489/47 "2014-02-17T23:16:02Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > He didn’t die from the venom. He died of boadom. And his last meal was corn-on-the-cobra. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-handling-pastor-dies-of-snakebite/681489/48 "2014-02-17T23:27:19Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > [Poisonous is perfectly appropriate.](http://motivatedgrammar.wordpress.com/2013/09/23/poisonous-or-venomous/) That just smacks of a desperate search for justification. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-handling-pastor-dies-of-snakebite/681489/49 "2014-02-17T23:40:28Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > “I sent you a raft, a boat, and a helicopter, what more did you want?” - God I was thinking the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-handling-pastor-dies-of-snakebite/681489/50 "2014-02-17T23:46:40Z")
Somebody forgot to milk the snakes of their venom. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-handling-pastor-dies-of-snakebite/681489/51 "2014-02-17T23:54:13Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > That just smacks of a desperate search for justification. On the one hand, we have actual evidence of the way language is used by its speakers. On the other we have an opinion about the way it should be used. The latter loses out to the former every time. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-handling-pastor-dies-of-snakebite/681489/52 "2014-02-18T00:05:33Z")
This is what comes of believing your own PR. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-handling-pastor-dies-of-snakebite/681489/53 "2014-02-18T01:52:48Z")
Ready, **Set** , go! ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-handling-pastor-dies-of-snakebite/681489/54 "2014-02-18T01:57:18Z")
> [@tim-n-va](#): > > I have a small amount of respect that he stayed true to his stated beliefs and didn’t seek medical help. But he could have simply taken Viagra. After all, he only had a reptile dysfunction. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-handling-pastor-dies-of-snakebite/681489/55 "2014-02-18T03:01:10Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > On the one hand, we have actual evidence of the way language is used by its speakers. On the other we have an opinion about the way it should be used. The latter loses out to the former every time. The point isn’t “what words did they used to use in the olden days\*.” The point is snakes are venomous, and they are not poisonous (unless you eat their venom sac). \*There are some grammar and lexicon situations where that is acceptable, but not when there’s a scientific definition involved. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-handling-pastor-dies-of-snakebite/681489/56 "2014-02-18T03:34:59Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > \*There are some grammar and lexicon situations where that is acceptable, … Like in this thread, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-handling-pastor-dies-of-snakebite/681489/57 "2014-02-18T03:39:08Z")
You guys are hissterical. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-handling-pastor-dies-of-snakebite/681489/58 "2014-02-18T04:23:04Z")
You guys have a biting wit. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-handling-pastor-dies-of-snakebite/681489/59 "2014-02-18T16:58:13Z")
Oh, bite me! ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-handling-pastor-dies-of-snakebite/681489/60 "2014-02-18T17:48:45Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Oh, bite me! Who rattlered your cage, Sidewinder? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-handling-pastor-dies-of-snakebite/681489.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snake-handling-pastor-dies-of-snakebite/681489.md?page=4)