Christianity: Details about 'Snake Handling'
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Snake handling is a religious ritual in some Christian churches in the U.S., usually characterized as rural and Pentecostal. Practitioners believe it dates to antiquity and quote the Bible to support that belief, especially:
There is no known link between it and the Hopi ceremony of "snake dancing." It is important to note that snake handlers are a very, very small minority among the Pentecostals.
FoundersGeorge Went Hensley, a preacher who had left a Pentecostal church when it stopped embracing snake handling, is credited with creating the first holiness church dedicated to snake-handling in the 1920s. Sister-churches later sprang up throughout the Appalachian backwoods. However, the roots of the snake-handlers can be traced further back to strict Calvinists, who were among the early English and Scotch-Irish settlers colonizing the Appalachian area. Many of the later followers were brought into the belief through traveling preachers in the late 19th century, attracted by dynamic preachers who boasted great miracles and demonstrated wonders. Snake-handlers todayAs in the early days, the worshipers are still encouraged to lay hands on the sick, speak in tongues, and provide testimony of miracles. Gathering mainly in homes and converted buildings, they generally adhere to such strict dress codes as uncut hair and ankle-length dresses for women and short hair and long-sleeved shirts for men. Most of these religious snake-handlers are still found in the Appalachian Mountains, and other parts of the southeastern area of the United States, especially in such states as Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, and West Virginia. In 2001, there were about 40 such small churches, and most are considered to be holiness-Pentecostal or charismatic. Most, if not all, use the King James Version Bible and consider other versions to be demonic or, at least, false. Like their predecessors, they believe in a strict, literal interpretation of the Scriptures. The devout often attend services several nights a week. Scriptural basis and practiceThose espousing the snake-handling religion base their belief upon Mark 16:17 - 18 —“And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues. 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.” Based upon this Scripture, they often include not only snake-handling in their services (usually copperheads and rattlesnakes) but also handling fire and drinking water laced with strychnine, arsenic, or some other poisonous substance. Several investigations have concluded that indeed, many congregants do ingest poison in the water. Rags, soaked in kerosene, are ignited and placed in glass jars, then passed around for any of the faithful who feels so inclined, to touch them by slowly passing their hands through the flames for several seconds. The risksThe worshipers are cognizant of the risks of their faith; however, if one is bitten, poisoned, or burned during the services, it is believed to be because of lack of faith. In the last 80 years, approximately 75 persons have died in the United States from handling snakes during religious services. Few seek medical attention after being bitten. While children attend the services, it is strongly denied by the worshipers that any have been bitten. Several of the leaders in these churches have been bitten numerous times, as indicated by their distorted extremities. Hensley, said to be the founder of modern snake-handling in the Appalachian Mountains, died from a snakebite in 1955. Another prominent leader, a 34-year-old evangelist, died in 1998 after being bitten by a timber rattler at the Rock House Holiness Church in rural northeastern Alabama. He left three young children. Members of his family contend that his death was likely due to a heart attack, although his wife had died three years earlier after a snake bite while in Kentucky. The lawThe First Amendment of the Constitution states that everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. Regardless, some states (Alabama, Kentucky, and Tennessee) have laws against the use of poisonous snakes and/or other reptiles in a place that endangers the lives of others or without a permit. The Kentucky law specifically mentions religious services. Most snake handling practices take place at a worshiper’s home. This avoids the process of getting a government permit for their church, which will usually end in denial. Law enforcement usually ignores these practices until they are specifically called in. This is not usually done unless a death has resulted from the practice. Snake-handling churchesAlabama
Georgia
Michigan
Ohio
South Carolina
Tennessee
West Virginia
Studies
External links and sources
See also: Church of God with Signs Following |
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