#snake handbag

[beishia]

[mackwyllreligiousstudies103-blog]

A look at the snake-handling churches of Appalachia

CNN's Gary Tuchman takes you inside the snake-handling churches of Appalachia. For more CNN videos, check out our YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/c...

As we have looked at religions on the periphery in our American Religious Diversity class, we have looked at religious serpent handling Pentecostals. In this video, Gary Tuchman, from CNN interviews members from The Tabernacle Church of God in Lafollette, Tennessee. Since religious snake handling has been banned in almost every state, many leaders of churches like this refuse any outsiders to take video at the fear of being prosecuted for using dangerous snakes in a service. However, in this video they capture many members using dangerous snakes, and handling fire. Religious serpent handling is based off of the bible passage Mark 16:17-18, which reads: “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” This church directly interprets the bible believing they should handle serpents to show their strong faith, however only at the will of God, or else it could be death.  And many people who decide to handle serpents, end up refusing treatment, believing that it is their time to go as God has decided. Occasionally they will utilize a poison called strychnine as well, which causes instant muscle spasm, and with the correct dosage can cause brain death within 30 minutes. This practice is extremely dangerous, and in my opinion, foolish. Playing with fire, snakes, and poison? It is everything my parents told me not to do, but if this someones path to spiritual or religious awakening, who am I to stop them?