Snake Handlers also Fundie?

[geniebelle6901]

Ok, that's pretty much true given the history between the people of Appalachia and the government, but that wasn't my question. My question was what do you consider heavily armed?

[emmiedahl]

In the pictures on her husband's facebook, E. Hamblin appears to have handled snakes while pregnant. There is a shot of her pregnant in the background, and then a close up where you cannot see her belly but you can see she is wearing the same shirt, has the same puffy pregnant face, and is holding a poisonous snake. http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... 834&type=1

srsly

eta: never mind, when you click on the photo, it is clear that she is pregnant. So, um, yeah.

[Deleted03]

so what do they do with those snakes? I'm really confused...

[emmiedahl]

so what do they do with those snakes? I'm really confused...

They hold them, and if God loves them then they are not bitten I guess.

I have so many problems with this. I doubt the snakes are caught and kept humanely. I don't think they have the experience or the facilities to adequately contain them, which means there could be dangerous snakes rolling around the suburbs. I doubt they pay their own medical bills when they are bitten and need care. They have children in the room during these services, and if you have ever seen how fast a rattlesnake moves, no one in that room is safe. All for what? To prove Skydaddy loves you more?

[Deleted03]

They hold them, and if God loves them then they are not bitten I guess.

I have so many problems with this. I doubt the snakes are caught and kept humanely. I don't think they have the experience or the facilities to adequately contain them, which means there could be dangerous snakes rolling around the suburbs. I doubt they pay their own medical bills when they are bitten and need care. They have children in the room during these services, and if you have ever seen how fast a rattlesnake moves, no one in that room is safe. All for what? To prove Skydaddy loves you more?

This is weird. I mean there's a difference between believing this and actually voluntarily going to fetch snakes and handle them on a regular basis.

The woman sure likes to take pictures of herself... She looks like she's 15 :S

[BelieveinScience]

They hold them, and if God loves them then they are not bitten I guess.

I have so many problems with this. I doubt the snakes are caught and kept humanely. I don't think they have the experience or the facilities to adequately contain them, which means there could be dangerous snakes rolling around the suburbs. I doubt they pay their own medical bills when they are bitten and need care. They have children in the room during these services, and if you have ever seen how fast a rattlesnake moves, no one in that room is safe. All for what? To prove Skydaddy loves you more?

I guess I have mixed feelings if the kids want to be in the room I don't see why its an issue. If they are treating the animals with respect and treating them humanely. (It looks like in one o fthe pics you linked to where the woman is pregnant their are cages in the background???).

My opinion might be slightly skewed though because I did a lot of hands on stuff with alligators at a really young age all the way through age 13. Messing around with young gators all the way through gators who were 13/14ft long. And there are pics of me handling a python (including around my neck) that was 5-6ft long when I was around age 9/10.

[emmiedahl]

The children could get bitten by a poisonous snake. That is certainly an issue, at least it would be for me. And they have a picture up of a rattlesnake in a tiny beat-up wooden box.

[BelieveinScience]

The children could get bitten by a poisonous snake. That is certainly an issue, at least it would be for me. And they have a picture up of a rattlesnake in a tiny beat-up wooden box.

It's my understanding that the wooden box you are talking about it is for transporting purposes, i could be wrong though.

[apple1]

I guess I have mixed feelings if the kids want to be in the room I don't see why its an issue.

Children cannot give informed consent. (I could argue that, for various reasons, some of the adults can't either, but that's another tale). There are reasons for laws stating this. It requires mental and emotional development to be able to reason through all the implications of one's decisions.

Exposing children to possibilities be bitten by highly venomous snakes (with parents who likely might not even seek the medical care that might save their lives) meets every definition of child endangerment that I have ever read.

[BelieveinScience]

Children cannot give informed consent. (I could argue that, for various reasons, some of the adults can't either, but that's another tale). There are reasons for laws stating this. It requires mental and emotional development to be able to reason through all the implications of one's decisions.

Exposing children to possibilities be bitten by highly venomous snakes (with parents who likely might not even seek the medical care that might save their lives) meets every definition of child endangerment that I have ever read.

Is it just because they are poisonous snakes that is the main issue? Or that the parents wouldn't give the children proper medical care if they were bitten?

[emmiedahl]

Is it just because they are poisonous snakes that is the main issue? Or that the parents wouldn't give the children proper medical care if they were bitten?

I would personally say the poisonous snakes. I would not let my kids crawl under a vehicle either. There is some vigilance involved with children. I have handled pythons, they are not poisonous are they?

[apple1]

Is it just because they are poisonous snakes that is the main issue? Or that the parents wouldn't give the children proper medical care if they were bitten?

It is both. Even proper medical care is no guarantee that there will not be permanent damage from venomous bites. It certainly doesn't guarantee that there will not be significant pain and suffering.

Shoot, we have laws that require children to be strapped into approved child restraint seats just to drive 1/4 mile up the road. Because responsible adults (or the law for those who are not voluntarily responsible) try to prevent harm to those who are smaller and weaker than themselves.

[BelieveinScience]

I would personally say the poisonous snakes. I would not let my kids crawl under a vehicle either. There is some vigilance involved with children. I have handled pythons, they are not poisonous are they?

No they aren't poisonous but they are constrictors and could easily kill a human when handling them. They're have been people who have held pythons (and boas too) and the animal started constricting while on the person. Just like alligators are dangerous even though they aren't poisonous.

[mirele]

Yikes, I just looked at Elizabeth Hamblin's FB and she recently (as in today) put up a picture of her handling a snake. I understand the reasoning behind why snake handlers do this, but I also live in a world where I know that if I get bitten by a snake, I can be seriously damaged or even die. *shudder* Of course, I decided a long time ago that there were just a whole lot of things I wasn't willing to do in the name of "faith in God," and snake handling (or drinking poison) is at the top of the list.

[fakepigtails73]

found this...

http://holiness-snake-handlers.webs.com/

I thought the site was a joke at first...

What a strange way to live your faith. Did anyone in their services died of strychnine poisoning?

[kittypie]

Don't be sorry, that was really interesting to me. Do you have any book recommendations, specifically about the history of religion in Appalachia?

[salsa]

No, sorry, I don't know of one specific to that area. I actually applied some of my knowledge of the sociology of religion in addition to my knowledge of the two primary theological strains in American Protestantism. I'm sure there are some, but I wouldn't know who might have done study particular to the Appalachian area.

One book that I CAN recommend, however, is very interesting reading and gives a (usually) pretty good, succinct overview of how and why a denomination came to be. I can't think of the editor, off hand, but it gets renewed every so often, so I'm pretty sure it's got a current edition. It's called "The Handbook of Denominations." It's organized alphabetically, which is good for reference sake, but I wish there was an index of geographical and socioeconomic factors.

[mirele]

I was skulking around on Elizabeth Hamblin's FB (which is open to the world) and clicked on her husband, Andrew and OMG...holy craptoads...

He's in the news, all in color, handling snakes.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/s ... 55354206/1

NASHVILLE – Andrew Hamblin's Facebook page is filled with snippets of his life.

Making a late-night run to Taco Bell.

Watching SpongeBob on the couch with his kids.

Handling rattlesnakes in church.

Hamblin, 21, pastor of Tabernacle Church of God in LaFollette, Tenn., is part of a new generation of serpent-handling Christians who are revitalizing a century-old faith tradition in Tennessee.

There's more...I think I'm going to need smelling salts or something.

[Kaylee]

Don't be sorry, that was really interesting to me. Do you have any book recommendations, specifically about the history of religion in Appalachia?

Deborah McCauley's "Appalachian Mountain Religion: A HISTORY" is the most popular and considered to be one of the best by many people who study it (I took a few Appalachian Studies classes in school & we used it for 2 different courses). It's pretty comprehensive, while many of the other books deal more with specific sects or groups/denominations.

[chaotic life]

The Baptists did NOT come from the Anabaptists. Hutterites, Amish Mennonite and Brethren came from the Anabaptist movement and the liberal Mennonites and Brethren have merged in the US.

When you live in the back of a hollow (pronounced holler to anyone who has ever lived in Appalachia), getting to a hospital is impossible. The only way from that deep in the mountains to a hospital is by air, and sometimes even that isn't reliable. Trauma injuries killed a LOT of people I knew in just the six years I lived in Appalachia growing up.

There are LOTS of missions though. I spent several years as part of Red Bird Mission, run by the Methodists. My dad left because he felt the mission board was extremely condescending to the mountain people, treating them as stupid rather than merely lacking opportunities.

[tabitha2]

I suggest you all Read Christy by Catherine Marshall the semi autobiographical story concerning a young teacher who comes to teach in the backwoods of Appalachian Tennessee in 1912.It was briefly a TV show starring Tyne Daly.

[gustava]

I suggest you all Read Christy by Catherine Marshall the semi autobiographical story concerning a young teacher who comes to teach in the backwoods of Appalachian Tennessee in 1912.It was briefly a TV show starring Tyne Daly.

Living in Appalachia as I do and having read Christy, I think it's a bit outdated.

[apple1]

I was skulking around on Elizabeth Hamblin's FB (which is open to the world) and clicked on her husband, Andrew and OMG...holy craptoads...

He's in the news, all in color, handling snakes.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/s ... 55354206/1

There's more...I think I'm going to need smelling salts or something.

He's 21, not sure of her age. They have 4 kids and she is obviously pregnant again.

His mentor from WV just died, but they persist.

Tragic.

[Witsec7]

I have a feeling that the Hamblins will be making headlines soon, and not in a good way.

[apple1]

I have a feeling that the Hamblins will be making headlines soon, and not in a good way.

Yes.

And I was concerned about Kelly Bradrick. But here is a situation with just as many kids in just as short a time, the parents ridiculously younger and obviously less educated and less financial resources (there is also something on FB about this guy losing his job at the grocery, and their car breaking down on the way back from the funeral in WV), then add the snake handling into the mess. Not good.

Not snarking. Just tragic.