snake handlers

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snake handlers

A movement of loosely organised fundamentalist Pentecostal churches, ministers and itinerant preachers, who handle poisonous snakes as part of their weekly ritual and sermons. Snake handling is a ritual based on an interpretation of Mark 16:17-20 and Luke 10:19 in the Bible. George Went Hensley (born circa 1880) began the practice in 1908, and is commonly considered the "father of contemporary serpent handling"; he died in 1955 from a snake bite.

There are between 1000 and 2000 snake handler church members, including those who do not handle snakes. The practice is controversial in that it pits the US First Amendment freedoms of religious expression against the states’ interest in protecting the safety of snake handlers’ minor children and other non-participants, potentially triggering felony charges against participants.

References in periodicals archive ?

A firefighter and snake handling trainer places a rescued snake into a bin at a fire station in Bangkok.

Snakes of Bangkok move in

Some of them treat expected topics such as the Azusa Street Mission and Revival, baptism of the Holy Spirit, exorcism, prophecy, snake handling, healing, and the Word of Faith movement.

Handbook of Pentecostal Christianity

After donning forensic suits they entered the property carrying a snake handling pole and over the next 20 minutes removed about a dozen large tupperware boxes each containing a snake - some labelled with names.

SNAKES CLEARED FROM TOT TRAGEDY HOUSE; SSPCA inspectors remove boxes of reptiles

The practice of snake handling in the United States was first documented in the mountains of East Tennessee in the early 20th Century, according to Paul Williamson, a professor of psychology at Henderson State University who, along with Hood, co-wrote a book about snake handlers called, ''Them That Believe.

Snake handlers don't lose the faith; 3 days after pastor died from rattlesnake bite, mourners handle snakes

America today has a very mixed religious following, including a Christian snake handling sect.

Religion's place in history; Views of the North

Snake handling is illegal in several states, including Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky.

Kentucky pastor tells Tennessee game officials to return his snakes

And if this transition doesn't happen too quickly, there's always snake handling, or naturally induced forms of rapture that keep folks glued to what matters.

Space, time and controllable substances

Mabudafhasi said through the project, women have acquired skills in waste management, occupational health and safety, identification of alien weeds and herbicide application, water safety, snake handling, first aid, environmental education and life skills.

SOUTH AFRICA : The Adopt-a-River project launch in the Eastern Cape

Dennis Covington's Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia was a 1995 National Book Award finalist in nonfiction.

Redeeming the serpentine subtext: Dennis Covington's appropriation of Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises in Salvation on Sand Mountain

Those espousing the snake handling practice based their belief upon Mark 16, verses 17-18.

Mad call of the wild

Most bear as much similarity to the theocratic fanatics of Al Qaeda and Taliban as Archbishop Rowan Williams does to the snake handling sects of Appalachia.

An attack on liberty

From different kinds of snake bites and the world's most dangerous snakes to snake handling methods, SNAKE BITE pairs dramatic photos with natural science, while PIRANHAS covers oddities such as a man who works with killer snails and how a fish can turn you into a zombie.