KY pastor from Snake Salvation has died of snakebite- MERGE

[ladyaudley]

Congregations are meant to handle snakes/drink poison if they feel God is calling them to. There are pictures of Hamblin's wife handling a *massive* rattler while pregnant. I hope she didn't also drink lye or strychnine while pregnant.

[ILoveJellybeans]

My deepest sympathies go out to that poor snake.

Yeah, poor snake, its a wild animal with instincts and didn't want to be handled by this tool. If you want to handle a poisonous animal, you do so at your own risk and accept that you might get bitten and maybe die.

Were these people tempting God into killing them or something?

I love snakes, I want a pet one, and I will name it Slinky.

[Trynn]

Ugh. That bible verse is referring to God protecting people from ACCIDENTS (or, in the case of poison, assassination attempts), not stupidity.

God healed Paul of a snakebite, but Paul did not go seeking out the snake to prove God could do it. Rather, Paul accidentally found one.

Even by the bible their logic doesn't make sense.

[Hane]

There's a Bible verse that says something like "And ye shall take up serpents," meaning that Paul said Christ's followers should go right ahead and pick up snakes without fear of dying from their bites. Can anyone here remember it?

[RachelB]

My sympathies to his children, who didn't ask to have a parent who put himself and his family in danger.

[apple1]

My sympathies to his children, who didn't ask to have a parent who put himself and his family in danger.

IIRC, Coot's (the deceased) son and daughter are adults now.

Hamblin (the other pastor from the NatGeo series) is the father of the 5 small children.

[ViolaSebastian]

The word is that his son, 'Little Cody' will take over his position at the church...so it looks like the practice will continue.

[lilith]

Didn't his father die of snakebite too? Or do I have him confused with someone else?

[NotALoserLikeYou]

The son speaks:

local8now.com/news/headlines/Snake-handling-pastor-dead--245743541.html?device=phone

This is the one whose father also died of a snake bite:

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2152184/Serpent-handling-pastor-Mack-Wolford-dies--hours-hes-bitten-RATTLESNAKE.html

[RosyDaisy]

There's a Bible verse that says something like "And ye shall take up serpents," meaning that Paul said Christ's followers should go right ahead and pick up snakes without fear of dying from their bites. Can anyone here remember it?

Here it is:

And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.â€--Mark 16:17-18

[GeoBQn]

When I was telling my husband about this, he said, "Wait--this is real? I thought it was just a joke from the Simpsons." (When Homer tries to get Moe to join his new religion, Moe responds, "Sorry Homer. I was born a snake handler, and I'll die a snake handler.") I assured him that this was, indeed, real.

[precious_one]

I am live in KY and this is just an embarrassment to me. I don't know anyone that worships this way. They are just crazy as far as I am concerned. I do feel sympathy for the children.

[RosyDaisy]

to those that say you can't fix stupid....the snake knew how

This comment on the site listed on the first post of this thread wins the internets!

[EvilSoup]

Thinning the herd, one dumbass at a time.

[doggie]

Thinning the herd, one dumbass at a time.

Does not seem to be working if three generations have had a chance to reproduce first. Black mamba will thin the whole church in one day.

[artdecades]

Does this sect believe that dying from a snakebite means that you are a sinner or somehow unworthy of God's protection? I am trying to figure out how they rationalize a death like this when their entire belief system is formed around the fact that snake bites won't hurt you if you have Jesus.

[Nobodysdoormat]

Where can I find the picture of his pregnant wife handling the snakes? I need to see that with my own eyes.

[apple1]

Where can I find the picture of his pregnant wife handling the snakes? I need to see that with my own eyes.

I don't know if there are more pics in elsewhere, but she (wisely) locked down her formerly-wide-open FB. That is where I saw the photo. This refers to Ms. Hamblin, not Ms. Coots (wife of the deceased).

[NotALoserLikeYou]

I don't know if there are more pics in elsewhere, but she (wisely) locked down her formerly-wide-open FB. That is where I saw the photo. This refers to Ms. Hamblin, not Ms. Coots (wife of the deceased).

I just looked at her fb and she has hundreds of public pics. I saw one of her handling a snake but I don't think she was pregnant. I'm on my phone so I couldn't easily look through all the pics.

[apple1]

I just looked at her fb and she has hundreds of public pics. I saw one of her handling a snake but I don't think she was pregnant. I'm on my phone so I couldn't easily look through all the pics.

You are (obviously) correct. I guess she just locked down the feed of her regular posts (that used to be completely open).

[apple1]

Does this sect believe that dying from a snakebite means that you are a sinner or somehow unworthy of God's protection? I am trying to figure out how they rationalize a death like this when their entire belief system is formed around the fact that snake bites won't hurt you if you have Jesus.

I can't say that I am any kind of "expert" at all; this is just from comments I saw on public media. Yes, I saw someone comment publicly that Coots must be in hell now because he must have been "in sin" when he handled the snake that killed up, therefore he had lost his salvation and God killed him. (Context seemed to indicate that this commenter was entirely serious).

On the other hand, I also saw comments that "it was just his time" or "his time was up" in the context of "he followed his faith to the end" and "he died doing what he believed". These comments seemed more numerous, by far.

I think there must be a dichotomy - a cognitive disconnect - in the belief system surrounding this, for most people.

[apple1]

Does not seem to be working if three generations have had a chance to reproduce first. Black mamba will thin the whole church in one day.

I have been holding off on this post, but, here goes:

What's with the hate?

I really feel only sadness for these mostly uneducated, financially disadvantaged, geographically in generally disadvantaged areas with few employment opportunities and a high percentage of substance abuse problems, people - who for reasons I cannot imagine, find themselves caught up in this belief system. I feel even worse for the kids, also the young adults who have been raised to believe that if they leave they are writing their own ticket to hell.

I'm one of those who think that the US constitutional right to freedom of religion should NOT extend to this kind of worship. I was always taught in school that my rights end where the next person's rights begin. The reason most US states say this type of worship is illegal is because of the fatalities. (For example, a few years ago, a 20-something year old woman from Coots' church died from a bite).

But I honestly don't get the hate - from a few posters here, and from many comments I have seen on social media, etc.

[HereticHick]

What's with the hate? As an Appalachian-American, I find it deeply embarrassing that snake handlers help define our region. They make Appalachia look bad, and they make Christianity look bad. Snake handling is completely narcissistic, ignorant, irresponsible, and illegal. And why would any snake want to be boxed up, dragged out & waved around? If these adults insist on continuing to handle snakes, I encourage the rattlesnakes to bite away!!

[doggie]

I have been holding off on this post, but, here goes:

What's with the hate?

I really feel only sadness for these mostly uneducated, financially disadvantaged, geographically in generally disadvantaged areas with few employment opportunities and a high percentage of substance abuse problems, people - who for reasons I cannot imagine, find themselves caught up in this belief system. I feel even worse for the kids, also the young adults who have been raised to believe that if they leave they are writing their own ticket to hell.

.

I am not hating them but I want the snakes to take care of themselves. if they want to abuse snakes let the snakes fight back. If you are going to challenge god do so with a snake that is truly lethal and that won't put up with the handling.

[samithemage]

I am not hating them but I want the snakes to take care of themselves. if they want to abuse snakes let the snakes fight back. If you are going to challenge god do so with a snake that is truly lethal and that won't put up with the handling.

Yeah, after hearing this story on NPR, I can't help but cheer on the snakes.

http://www.npr.org/2013/10/18/236997513 ... e-handling