#snake church

[sealinne]

"You know what son, I once stood where you're standing now, mistaking my own hubris for God's touch but that ain't religion, son. That's called self-glorification. Best you leave this one alone."

[skepticalpigeon]

What is your favorite denomination of Christianity and why?

Ooh that's a tough one. I'd have to say Pentecostal for sheer entertainment value, especially the subsets that deal with faith healings, miracles, speaking in tongues, snake-handling etc. I've sat through both Baptist and Catholic sermons and I have a tendency to get bored if I'm just sitting there doing nothing, but if the pastor brought out a live rattlesnake or something I'd definitely be invested.

Edit: Just learned that that's not actually a denomination, but a movement. For an actual denomination, I'd say Methodist for their commitment to living out their doctrines and taking action to help the less fortunate - it's nice to see a church do something Jesus actually recommended.

[sspacegodd]

You know those worship services where believers handle reptiles and drink poison and you always think “Where do people DO that??”

Well, okay then.

[skepticalpigeon]

Amazing

I love snake handling, as a religious practice.

Because while they can point at some Bible verses to justify it (a couple gospels use "snakes can't hurt you" as a metaphor for strength of belief, and they took it very litteraly) it's basically a modern invention. Like, the American Christian practice of snake handling is barely over a hundred years old! That's very young for a Christian practice.

It's younger than Mormons and Christian Scientist, and it's mostly limited to my area: the Appalachians.

It's basically just a regular Pentecostal service (which often involves laying of hands for healing, and my favorite Christian tradition, glossolalia!) except they add The Snake.

Like, you're at church, and there's the pews, and people are going up and Feeling The Spirit, and some of them are Picking Up The Snake.

That's alright, it's a harmless snake, right?

NOPE! They use venomous snakes. Usually American ones (your rattlesnakes and copperheads) but sometimes they import cobras and the like.

The venomous nature is the point. They believe that if they're blessed by God, they'll be able to handle the dangerous snakes without being hurt.

And given that this is a relatively rarely practiced thing, and it's connected to faith healing, you might think it's just a con. There's some traveling "holy man" with a well-trained snake that he can "miraculously" handle without being attacked, right?

Oh god no. It's a bunch of different guys and they get bitten all the time. Wikipedia has a list of 15 of 'em who died because of it, and that's just the "notable" ones.

People are allowed to just come up and touch the venomous snake! No training or safety equipment needed, just Jesus. Reportedly people who get bitten are not considered to be lacking in faith, just "it was their time to go". Like, they don't even call the hospital about anti-venom. You just die.

(Did I mention sometimes they drink poison too? Mainly strychnine, possibly because it's survivable in small doses. Same reason: their faith will protect them)

Anyway I really do love it. It's such an unusual thing to jam into Christianity, that I can't help but be mesmerized by it.

But it makes up the majority of 20th and 21st century American deaths from snakes. Most people avoid snakes so even the most deadly venomous snakes in America usually only ever kill by surprise, like someone reaches into a gopher hole and gets bit, or they accidentally bother one trying to piss in a bush. And even then, we've got anti-venoms! Lots of people bitten make it to the hospital and get treated.

So naturally the main group that ends up dying from snakes is the ones who are constantly handling deadly snakes and then refuse medical care.

[buddykuberry]

[antikristvs]

[everytaylorswiftsongisaboutcats]

[olithegeek]

HIFHEBIF THE COLLAB EVER

[snowangeldotmp3]

feel free to specify in the tags where you are from along with yes or no !!

[playablekairi]

why were you digging? what did you bury? before those hands pulled me from the earth

[suzukaperodi]

take me to church

...i'll worship like a dog 🎵 a twist on season 2's ending. what if crowley did go with aziraphale to heaven. (i honestly have no idea where i was going with this haha just a quick reimagine i guess. my thought process was and i quote from my notes app "something something how crowley is devoted to aziraphale... hozier take me to church")

Instagram || Twitter || Ko-fi

[daiourage]

Ritual.

[batemanofficial]

can i say something extremely specific and kinda annoying. it won't land for anybody except me and like maybe 3 other people but here goes: can we please stop adding images of snake handling churches to our appalachian gothic mood boards. or at least think about the snake handling churches a little more critically. i don't want to be the local snake church veteran slash debbie downer but like. people can and do die from snake handling in that way. and not to mention the wellbeing of the snakes. or the detrimental psychological effects on the congregants vis-a-vis the ritual reasons why the snakes are handled the way they are. anyway call me the country bumpkin version of the "don't romanticize the mafia/i cooka da pizza" person if you want but idk i think we should be thinking a little harder about why we think snake handling is so aesthetically harmonious with a vision of appalachia that never was

[mswyrr]

"Coriolanus in ‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes’ and Billy in ‘Billy the Kid’ are both conflicted and multi-layered young men. They’re never just one thing, they’re a hero and a villain simultaneously. They’re brave and they’re brutal. I think I gravitate to these kind of roles because they reflect the many dimensions of what it means to be human. We live in a very judgemental society now and the internet has made people think in a binary way about morality. There’s a lot of pressure to show everyone that you’re more moral than the next person and it can be really easy to get sucked into that way of thinking. Characters like these remind me that life and decision-making is incredibly complex, and that our society is not a finished product. It’s an ever-changing, evolving collection of flawed mammals who are all just trying to get by and do right by themselves and others. There’s something refreshing in that. It takes the pressure off being right all the time and teaches you that it’s ok just to be alive and making an effort." --Tom Blyth interview with Numero Magazine

[hordemama]

WOE! ARTISTIC NUDITY BE UPON YE!

wasn't intended, i just liked the sketch too much to put clothes on them.

[moreespressoformydepresso]

Satanist Treech is canon pass it on