Heard about this snake idiocy before

[The Valkyrie]

Natural selection at work.

Still, I have to ask;

Why does it work in India ?

What are our Christers doing wrong ?

One wonders how many die in India that you simply don't hear about?

[Minimalist]

What we are really discussing is people putting on a show.

How is that different from xtians?  Except they aren't smart enough to "milk" the snakes first.

[abaris]

One wonders how many die in India that you simply don't hear about?

There's also a distinct line between people having learned to handle snakes for their whole life and idiots thinking they're immune because of divine mojo. As far as I am informed, there's also some tribe in Egypt having specialised in handling snakes. They get bitten all right, but since they train it from childhood, they're developing immunities. They start with less dangerous breeds.

Cant's find any internet link, since when I type in the obvious, I get presented with some crappy romance novel I'm supposed to buy. But I remember watching some documentary about it.

[Pyrrho]

I wonder how they retain their faith when one of their own dies from a snake bite?

I see from Wikipedia that they are just inconsistent on this point:

"Those who die from snakebites are never criticized for lack of adequate faith; it is believed that it was simply the deceased’s time to die.[6]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_handling

Inconsistent because they claim to believe the Bible is all literally true, and Mark clearly says that if they will not be harmed if they believe.  Mark does not say that they will die from it if it is there time to die, it says they will be unharmed.

So they are not believing the Bible, just like the people they criticize.

[Pyrrho]

What we are really discussing is people putting on a show.

How is that different from xtians?  Except they aren't smart enough to "milk" the snakes first.

I did not say it was different from the Christians.  They, too, are putting on an act, and they also cheat:

Condition of the snakes

Kristen Wiley, curator of the Kentucky Reptile Zoo said that the risk of fatal bites is significantly reduced by the familiarity of the snakes with humans, and by the poor health of snakes that are insufficiently fed and watered and kept in crowded areas.[22] Snakes that are maltreated are less likely to strike and the deteriorated condition of the snake produces weaker venom, suggesting that deaths related to snake-handling are more likely to occur when someone is bitten while handling a newly captive snake, still in relatively good health, and then refuses medical treatment. Snakes living in the captivity of snake handlers live an average of three to four months, compared to a well-cared for snake in captivity which can live 10 – 20 years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_handling


And, as I mention above, they are not properly following the Bible, or they would condemn those who die from it, as lacking true belief.

[Ravenshire]

I wonder how they retain their faith when one of their own dies from a snake bite?

"He dint have nuff faith or heed be juuusssst fahn!"

[Ravenshire]

Natural selection at work.

Only if he failed to reproduce...

[drfuzzy]

Yep. I got dragged to a lot of "snake handling" speaking in tongues services as a child.  After all, Mark 16:18 says: "they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them."  And these folks say that every word in the Bible is literally true.

Now, why don't they have arsenic-drinking services, then?  

You should have suggested the poison to them, and told them that they did not have the faith that they pretended to have.  Otherwise, they would do it.

Hey, I was only ten!! My Mother would have insisted I drink the poison first!

[Spooky]

Heard about it? Yes. Even watched a couple episodes of the show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1-BhaX5GSE

A Sociologist could spend a career trying to figure these wackjobs out, and come up empty.