Woman bitten by snake at church dies

[beam me up scottie]

Woman bitten by snake at church dies
SERPENTS ARE HANDLED THERE, NEIGHBORS SAY


By Shawntaye Hopkins
HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER

A London woman is dead after being bitten by a snake during a Sunday church service, the Laurel County Sheriff's Office said yesterday.

Neighbors near East London Holiness Church on Smith Brewer Road, which officials said the 48-year-old attended, said the church practices serpent handling.

***

Sizemore said he thinks the woman was bitten by a timber rattlesnake. He did not know if the woman practiced snake handling.

Snake handling is based on a passage in the Bible, in the Gospel of Mark, that says a sign of a true believer is the power to "take up serpents" without being harmed.

It is illegal in Kentucky to handle reptiles as part of religious services. Snake handling is a misdemeanor and punishable by a $50-$100 fine.

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/state/15947481.htm

In the immortal words of Sammy Hagar:

I wasn't worried
I walked into the room

I saw the serpent's shadow
Against the silver moon

They said as long as you believe
You'll be alright

And just as long as you believe, a snake won't bite


~Salvation on Sand Hill





I'm going to go vote now, and try to forget that I live in an area of the country where people handle snakes to prove how much they love Jesus.

:banghead:

[Eagle_Eye]

1. I hope the snake is alright

[beam me up scottie]

2. ROFL!

Thanks!

I needed that!

[Eagle_Eye]

9. The republicans are going to get bit by the Democrats tonight

I can't say "I hope the republicans are alright".
I hope this election is fatal to the current administration.

[Jamastiene]

38. I do too.

All too often the animals are blamed for defending themselves from poisonous people or not so poisonous people who should be considered poisonous.

[NMMNG]

3. But if it says so in the Bible it must be true

:sarcasm:



I hope the people who think the Bible is fact are far outweighed by those with common sense and sanity at the polls today.

[Karenina]

18. I like handling snakes

errraaa... NON-POISONOUS ONES. I think they're cute. Where's the chapter and verse that says they have to be deadly? :shrug:

[Blue_Tires]

34. i'd grab a bunch of earthworms and be done with it

[Jamastiene]

39. I like snakes too.

My tenth birthday present was to get to pet Tika, a 15 foot long python. I was grinning from ear to ear too. That snake was notorious for biting the male owner of the store, so the wife, female owner, held her head until she flicked her tongue out at me to get to know me. Wish human women greeted each other that way. :evilgrin:

[xchrom]

4. snake handling seems to be a theme this week for christians.

disclaimer -- i'm a gay christian.

[B3Nut]

13. Rimshot!

:D

That was good. <high-5>

Todd in Beerbratistan

[NOLADEM]

5. Darwin Award Nominee

Moran.

Guess she wasn't a true believer.

[Ferretherder]

7. Great minds, huh?.....

.....or simple ones, eh?

[BOSSHOG]

19. Is it redundant

to get the Darwin Award posthumously?

[zbdent]

21. Not if the reason for the award is due to the

lopping off (or shooting off, in many cases) of the equipment which allows procreation ... before having children ...

[Ferretherder]

6. Darwin Award nominee, perhaps?

Please, people.....vote!

Jeezus tap-dancin' Kriste.

[krispos42]

8. Intelligent Design, no doubt

Like playing Russian Roulette with an autoloading pistol. Or an ejection seat in a helicopter.

[Freedom_from_Chains]

10. Well, must of not been right with God.

So I would assume that she is going to be taking a trip even further south.


I go by there on my way to Florida. I'll make sure that in the future I don't stop for gas.

[zbdent]

22. She didn't believe enough ...

Mrs. ZBDent has cerebral palsy (from birth). Her grandmother wanted to take her to a faith healer ... of course, if she didn't get "cured", it would have been because she "didn't believe hard enough" ...

[depakid]

11. Snake handling is a misdemeanor and punishable by a $50-$100 fine.

My guess is that overdue parking tickets cost more than that. Speeding tickets surely do.

But hey, freedom of religion- if a person is over 18 and willingly wants to risk being bitten, who am I to say? As long a they're not coerced.

Then again, these types would likely also come into my state and prohibit the terminally ill from having a physician assist them in dying with dignity....

[crim son]

25. I was just laughing at that.

Who'd have guessed that such a law would be required?

And the wacko religious types wonder why we view them and their beliefs with bemused skepticism.

[aceman2373]

12. they handle rattle snakes and don't have any

medicine available it they get bit??
Now that's what I call faith.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

30. only if "faith=stupidity".

[Nihil]

14. "OK ... so now does anyone else ...

... wanna try getting the apple back offa that there snake?"

:evilgrin:

[saigon68]

15. One less Vote for the CHIMPANZEE'S hateful diseased candidate disciples tonite.

LOL

[Crunchy Frog]

16. I see a Darwin Prize in somebody's future.

Interesting that it's such a problem in Kentucky that they had to pass a law against it.:crazy:

[cboy4]

17. Moran

[salvorhardin]

20. Look at it this way

Natural selection in action (and you have front row seats).

I agree with everyone else who said it. Darwin Award contender.

I've got to disagree with that Kentucky law though. Does it really say it's illegal to handle reptiles? All reptiles? Because I have visions of a church of turtle handlers...

[deucemagnet]

26. I dissent on the Darwin Award nomination.

The article stated that the woman was 48 years old. At that age, she had probably already passed her genes on to a new generation of Darwin Award contenders, and was unlikely to pass them on to any more. Unless, of course, she had faith in miracles. :evilgrin:

[Orrex]

23. You've got it all wrong

I live in an area of the country where people handle snakes to prove how much they love Jesus.

Obviously she didn't love Jesus. If she did, then the snake wouldn't have bitten her. Or it wouldn't have been venomous. Or the venom wouldn't have been poisonous. Or there wouldn't be any snakes in the first place. Or...

[hlthe2b]

24. just goes to prove....

Darwin was right!


Manslaughter charges are in order if you ask me... OH,yes... she LOST THE FAITH...:eyes:

[Tyler Durden]

27. Think of it as "Evolution in Action..."

Feed that Gene Pool enough Evolutionary Chlorine as it takes.

Hail Darwin!

[Divameow77]

28. I used to live across the street

from a "snake church" and the man that owns the land my parents used to live on, grandmother still lives on, was the pastor. He has all kinds of scars from being bitten. I have always wondered... if the church believes that your faith will keep you from being bitten, why don't they question the faith of their leader since he's been bitten a number of times?

When someone in church does get bitten by a snake, they all drop down to their knees and pray. In all the years that church has been there I think a teenage boy died once from a snake bite.

They have their services on Saturday nights and we could sit on our front porch and see them dancing with the occasional snake above their heads through the windows and they always had live music. Sure are a crazy bunch of people.

[Gormy Cuss]

32. There was a preacher who tried to murder his wife with the snakes

I can't remember the details but he essentially put her in a room or shed with the snakes and hoped that enough would bite her to cause a fatal poisoning.

Talk about crazy.

[Divameow77]

33. This guys name is

Carl Porter, he's actually kind of famous after being on so many Inside Edition or 60 Minutes type show.

Wow, I just googled his name...

[Karenina]

35. That is DEFINITIVELYNOT

the proper way to pick up a snake... :scared:

[bertha katzenengel]

29. How sad.

:(

[Javaman]

31. The rational behind this is right up there with the concept that

witches float.

[Chovexani]

36. Obligatory "Snakes on a Pew" joke.

:spank:

[Dukkha]

37. That is it!

I've had it with these mutha fucking snakes in this mutha fucking church!

[Liberal Jesus Freak]

40. Okay, that's it--

I have officially wet my pants reading some of your responses :silly: Unfortunately (for me) I live about 50 miles from where this event took place x( I've spent an enormous amount of time trying to convince others-and myself-that eastern Kentucky is not that bad but jeez--this is too much :grr: Snake handling just isn't smart.:banghead: