test the Lord, thy God...."

He should have read his Bible.

... WTF? No telling how many poor ignorant people is brainwashed by this kind of "religion." Think of the little children, alone!

There are six states that contain Signs Following congregations, and they're all in the very deep south. Five of them banned the practice decades ago...but that shit still goes on.

I really wonder why these guys haven't started doing Genesis 22 tests. (Genesis 22 is the chapter of the Bible where Abraham was commanded by God to sacrifice his only son as a burnt offering, and Abraham almost managed to kill his kid before God told him to stop.)

... his son, Cody, said he will continue the practice and that he was encouraging his children to do the same. They should put him in a straight jacket and throw him in the nearest insane asylum. And his kids should be taken away from him, or at least be placed with sane relatives (if there are any), and given psychological counseling.

Jesus will be saying, "for Dad's sake, quit doing this shit!"

The serpent handlers will be saying "no, Jesus just decided to call him home."

that even the hardest core fundamentalist knows having your only son gather wood, making him arrange it into a funeral pyre, tying him up, putting him on the pyre, killing him with a knife then setting the wood afire to hide the evidence just because you heard a voice in your head is one of the more fucked-up things in the Bible, a book that's just jam-packed with fucked-up shit.

Snake handling is illegal in every state except WV.

IIRC "serpent handling" (the Bible verse they rely on calls the squirmy bastards serpents, so they call themselves serpent handlers) is practiced mainly in WV, KY, TN, NC, SC and GA. There are a few Signs Following churches in OH and FL, but those are the "big six" states where it's done.

Natural Selection will take care of these idiots and cull them from the gene pool...I say we allow venom and mother nature do what we as a society lack the courage to do for ourselves - END THE POISON OF RELIGION.

Here's the thing, I know a lot of people might be upset by this sentiment, but if you want to ban this practice but NOT ban all religion in general, then you are a hypocrite. Protecting people only from bodily harm and ignoring the mental anguish and pure hatred that their belief systems espouse is the worst kind of half-measure.

You want to have religion? Then take the bad with the worse and live with the consequences...
You want to ban it outright? I am sympathetic to the cause, but pragmatically know it won't happen...

That means natural selection can't help.

... I accept the fact that I'm a hypocrite in your eyes. Actually, there's only a few degrees of separation between your view of religion and mine. I just think this would be a good place to start.

And, just maybe say "hey, ya know: that's full of crap." And maybe one soul actually WILL be saved...saved from ignorance.

... you're right. I hope that followers of this "snake-handling" religion all over the country learns from this. Especially if they gave their hard-to-come-by money in the offering plate after which their snake-handling pastors "blessed." Do they have the mental capability to realize they were scammed by this fake religion?
We can only hope, loudsue.

SWEET...

But natural selection believed in him!

Thus negating natural selection.

That's the first thing I thought of.

...from your own stupidity but without issue. Thus, your stupidity can't be passed on and evolution has done its job—erased those who were not fit to continue the species.

Wonder if the adult son will maintain the tradition. Given the DNA...probably.

I mean, the real problem is that the snake bites don't happen often enough or kill enough of them. If this religion brought about wholesale slaughter of congregants, they'd either get the message and stop, or there wouldn't be any of 'em left to keep doing it.

almost out of them.

Stupid as he was.

"He has the courage of his ignorance."

... and based upon the stupid scale, they say numbers that large cannot be confirmed to actually exist.

returned to ice box and cold one picked up. The cold ones are stiff and dopey. But, they can get mean when they warm up.

A guy in my reserve unit told me once about how his preacher uncle would have the snakes in a wooden washtub filled with ice water that he'd kept the snakes in for over 2 days, always making sure the ice cubes were replaced as they melted. It would keep the snakes sluggish and torpid enough that they wouldn't bite.

...but they are cruel liars, to boot.

fire handlers and poison drinkers, and also publish the photos of the current and recent practitioners. Taking away the mystery seems to be more effective than trying to enforce a legal ban.

Great way to spit on science NG, and encourage the mentally ill to show off and encourage other people to handle snakes.

right-wing idiots preparing for the "inevitable collapse of society"
I don't know why a presumably respectable entity provides these people a forum.

n/t

like this one: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/chasing-ufos/

Let me guess Poor Jamie Coots wasn't faithful enough that's why he died

.....

or was not anointed by Gawd

He must be facepalming his way toward the 'light'.

where if they drowned, they were innocent -

in this case, if he died - he was guilty

...with buttery Venom Sauce!

- And they make a great Hors d'œuvre!!!

n/t

I am thankful everyday that I was not brainwashed religiously in my youth, I was a complete free agent to think it all through.

What's a bit scary is all the kids being brainwashed in these massive Jesus camps - and that around half of folks believe the earth is 6,000 years old.

There is no such thing as a poisonous snake...Poison is something that has to be ingested either by food or drink...Snakes are venomous..Thereby injected into the bloodstream..CNN should know better



*slow clap*

Not that I have the talent to come up with anything, but the name seems perfect.

[center]There was a snake handler named Coots
who dangled snakes head to boots
Decided one day, his vipers should pay
So they paid him in-full, in juice[/center]

When an EMT tells you have a good chance of dying unless you get
some medical attention that is not an act of the devil trying to test
your faith.

How many ways can I say, "stupid".

A charlatan snakehandler's life for you?

...so you don't don't have to repeat his mistakes.

You don't HAVE to follow in your father's footsteps. Think on this carefully...

Look it up. Fucking Kentucky, WHAT a shock.

God didn't create STUPID !!!

Granted it was a non-poisonous snake. Was very effective as a metaphor though.

I will pass on your appreciation of her work