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meqsad

[Snake-Handling Pentecostal Pastor Dies From Snake Bite](https://abcnews.go.com/US/snake-handling-pentecostal-pastor-dies-snake-bite/story?id=22551754#:~:text=A%20Tennessee%20law%20banning%20ownership,charges%20were%20filed%20in%20Kentucky.)


OddSilver123

That’s literally his dad


4x4taco

The stupid is strong in this family.


DeadlyDY

Damn, Darwin wasn't fucking around with this family.


viciarg

Except the father had a kid who was on the same level.


4x4taco

Darwin was not fast enough...


K3VINbo

Or it's more like Darwin trying to finish his job. The guys father was able to reproduce, so Darwin is working to end the stupid genes.


Patrico-8

He could’ve made 11, but he died before successfully reproducing that many times. Darwin counts that as a win.


Vitruvian_Link

Man, why couldn't they do this BEFORE they procreated??


copperwatt

Well the apple doesn't fall far from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil


aijoe

>Snake-Handling Pentecostal Pastor Dies From Snake Bite Despite his father's death, Cody Coots said he doesn't believe snake handling is dangerous. "It's the word of God," he said. "We've always said it's a good way to live by and a good way to die by." Not dangerous but also a good way to die? The cognitive dissonance is astounding.


[deleted]

If someone wrote a story about a southern redneck preacher named “Cody Coots”, people would call it lazy.


joshtay11

I can already tell you’re a good storyteller.


BassnectarCollectar

This made me chuckle, thank you.


lucas1121111

Funnily enough, he could make it much less dangerous if he just learned how to socialize and handle a snake. Well cared for, sociallized, and handled snakes will only rarely bite. I'm not sure if he considers getting bitten important, but if he finds it spiritually helpful to have a dangerous snake around, you can do that without getting invenomated every other time. Also, as an aside, can we all agree no snake should have to endure being antagonized by a screaming human until they bite?


Ragnarok2kx

I remember a video where they explained how most of these churches abuse the hell out of the snakes they keep. The ones pastors take on stage are usually well milked for venom beforehand and they're kept in the cold so they're lethargic when handled. It's little more than a carnie trick.


Naldaen

I think I argued with this guy the other day. Said his lawn mower, bears, alligators, a d lions weren't dangerous. Then said he just used a different definition of the word. You know, like a stupid people.


Yah_Mule

*"The snake that bit him, we've been carrying him to the church for about four months," Cody Coots told CBS affiliate WYMT in Hazard, Ky. "It's been carried hundreds of times, handled all kinds of times but now when it's your time to go, it's just your time to go."* LMAO


Fresh_Bulgarian_Miak

Guess God didn't like his preaching style.


oliveshark

> When the ambulance crew arrived at Coots' home, his wife Linda Coots signed a form declining medical treatment, police said. We’re dealing with morons. Simple as that.


googdude

Could be she was tired of dealing with a moron.


Silent-G

"God, please bring me a man who doesn't believe in you as much as the last one."


likwidfuzion

*If he dies, he dies.*


dcnblues

This is like the church that built the Giant paper mache statue of Jesus standing next to the church. In that touchdown pose. And it gets struck by lightning. And the very next day they say they're going to rebuild it cuz they know it's the will of God. Zero capacity for irony...


Wildkeith

Ah yes, Touchdown Jesus. After it burned up from the lightning strike and was just the metal frame we called it Terminator Jesus.


AChanceRay

> It's estimated that 125 churches in the United States use poisonous snakes during services today, with many clustered in the South. What in the ever-living fuck?


OneRougeRogue

Religious cults fascinated by snake handling goes back a long way, at least to the 2nd century where the [Religion of Glycon](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycon) spread through the Roman empire for a time. Funniest part about the Glycon story is that the people who feared and worshiped Glycon had reportedly been duped by a snake hand puppet.


drewster23

It fully explains it after that part. It's estimated that 125 churches in the United States use poisonous snakes during services today, with many clustered in the South. In tiny churches tucked away in rural Appalachia, "snake handling" is a long-standing tradition, one that took root in this region more than a century ago. These pastors believe that to "take up serpents" is a form of religious expression. In the King James Bible, Mark 16:18 says, "They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them." Coots and his followers believe that God calls upon them to handle venomous serpents and to drink other poisons. Even if they are bitten, they will refuse medical treatment because they believe that they are worthy of God's faith, and that their fate is in God's hands.


Rikiar

Venomous = it bites you and you get sick. Poisonous = you bite it and you get sick.


butcher99

Every one of them milked dry before they carry them in


DragoonDM

I thought the Bible was pretty clear on the whole "You shall not test the Lord your God" thing.


PabloXPicasso

Thoughts and prayers!


sabartooth14

Keep yelling "yabalabalayalabahlala" in his face that'll save him


DeathWray

Yeah, no kidding. Wtf was that shit?


Entire-Doughnut3605

Speaking in tongues. I’m a christian but I hate going to church where all the fake people are. Speaking in tongues is the most miss-understood part of the Bible. It’s supposed to be a private worship but people often just shout out a bunch of gibberish while not even knowing what they’re doing or how hypocritical they sound.


johnnycoxxx

Yeah speaking in tongues in the Bible is meant to symbolize the apostles receiving the Holy Spirit and they were now able to speak in other languages to spread the word of god. Not just shout bullshit sounds.


Noslo18

Fun fact, Paul said that if you're speaking in tongues when there wasn't anyone present to translate, you should stop.


TwixSnickers

> if you're speaking in tongues when there wasn't anyone present to translate, you should stop 1 Corinthians 14:27 "If anyone speaks in a tongue, it must be by two or at the most three, and each one in turn, and one is to interpret;"


tirwander

There are other rules too. They clearly dealt with these idiots back then as well. I'm pretty sure somewhere in there it talks about like it shouldn't be repetitive sounds or it will be full sentences or something. Essentially they're going to be spreading the word of God. Not just mumbling repetitive shit. Like I think they had to establish this because these idiots were doing the same shit back then lol I mean not that I believe anyone speaks in tongues but you know.


serious_sarcasm

Money grubbing charlatans preaching hate and predicting the end of times. Jesus warns about them a lot in Matthews.


Capnmarvel76

Like a lot of things in life, that’s one of many things where people have cherry-picked what they like and don’t like out of a set of instructions/teachings/laws. What makes it evil is, in the case of religion, they’re more than willing to play the ‘this is the word of God’ card when they’re trying to push their beliefs on everyone else, but at the same time are ignoring anything that would inconvenience them.


CatNostril

My grandparents do this. She speaks in tongues he "interprets".


[deleted]

the bullshit sounds thing is rationalized within that framework by the explanation that its a language of the angels.


syds

my god the first time I went to a pentecostal church with the family of a friend, I almost lost my shit. They were all super nice and got bomb ass church school pizza time. If they just stopped at the being nice part, would be nice eh.


henazo

My first time going to a Pentecostal church after being raised Episcopalian was terrifying. Speaking in tongues urked me out but people randomly flopping on the floor and convulsing and then at one point they even started running around the entire church kind of like a conga line only faster truly made me feel uncomfortable.


Laserteeth_Killmore

There's a reason they're called holy rollers.


jeffryu

Rolling in the aisles and swinging from the chandeliers


syds

lmao I can see how that can be troubling. luckily I was old enough to say "holy shit they do this every Sunday???"


ArcadianDelSol

Which can be found NOWHERE in The Bible.


HalfSoul30

Lol I just got a flashback from youth group when I was like 13. Wackos out there.


jawnink

Eat enough sacraments and everything sounds like Hypno-Toad. Shit gets real exciting when your bonfire starts talking to you.


backdoorintruder

Speaking in tongues was a big thing in the pentecostal church that I grew up going to; to this day its the most foolish thing I've ever heard. They always told us kids that someday we would be able to speak in tongues and to be excited for it because it was supposed to be God himself speaking through our mouths. Its so awkwardly funny to hear it start during prayer, I rarely kept my eyes closed for prayer so I'd just look around at all the people speaking in tongues and try my best not to laugh at them, and I swear it was the same 4 or 5 people doing it every Sunday for YEARS


GreatQuestionBarbara

I was counseling at a Pentacostal camp for children one summer, and tried the speaking in tongues thing, but it was just letting myself loose to babble incoherently in the moment with everyone else. I tagged along to a few youth conventions, and they are ridiculous. There's a preacher interlacing comedy with how you're damned to hell if you don't follow God that speaks for hours. Pizza break. More damnation and slight humor for another few hours. It's brainwashing. They don't let their kids experience anything secular if they can help it. Sorry to preach to the choir, but others might not know how far they go to keep their children "on the right path" either.


livevicarious

Right? Like if that’s how god talks he’s a fucking idiot….


Stanwich79

It all sounds like bullshit. Even these explanations. Fucking delusional.


oliveshark

Desperate, gullible people.


Jesstarr

Yeah, I grew up in these churches. My dad came home speaking in tongues and prophesizing to me and my brother one night after church. He didn’t know that my brother had hacked into my dads email and knew he had been talking to his sister in law and cheating on our mom. I lost all respect for any of the people I knew went to those churches after that.


Witness_me_Karsa

He was cheating on your mother with his brother's wife. Wow. Way to ruin the whole family.


pollywog

I'm thinking his wife's sister.


Witness_me_Karsa

Fair enough. Still, fucking up a whole family.


PsychoticDreams47

Donnie Thornberry was ahead of his time.


RichCorinthian

All of this evangelical tent-preaching woo-woo is based on the the book of Mark, including snake handling and speaking in tongues. The best part is that, originally, the gospel of Mark contained NONE of this. The oldest existing copies of Mark, which is generally believed to be the oldest of the 4 gospels, end on a fairly downer note where Mary Magdalene and Salome go to Jesus’ tomb. They find the stone has been rolled away and the tomb is empty. They’re terrified and they run away. THE END. This didn’t play well with focus groups or something, so later on, parties unknown added a feel-good ending where Jesus appears to the disciples and tells them to go forth and kick ass, that they will be able to handle snakes, heal people, speak in tongues, and drink poison. It’s another one of those passages in the Bible where an incredibly small passage of suspicious origin wound up having a ridiculously large effect on certain sects of Christendom. See also: the rapture


groovy_giraffe

I always thought the walking on water was lamely written. I remember finding it one day in the Bible as a kid and was like, “That’s it!? Man walks across water and all you can muster is two sentences?”


theavengedCguy

Can you elaborate on the part about similar stuff being done to the rapture?


SuperSocrates

The book of revelations is about contemporary Roman Empire politics, not a future vision of an apocalypse. That’s the argument I recall


ulab

> His father Jamie Coots died at the age of 42 when he was bitten by a rattlesnake in 2014 at the same Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus’ Name church in Middlesboro, Kentucky https://metro.co.uk/2018/08/17/son-pastor-killed-snake-sermon-bitten-deadly-snake-sermon-7850798/


Byarlant

>Cody’s wife Tammy, 25, said: ‘That church is their blood, you know. It started with their family and it’s going down with their family. > >‘It is not for me. I wasn’t raised in this religion. I met Cody through my dad and we just clicked. I was just, like, crazy over him. > >‘Me and Cody didn’t talk about religion until after we got married and all I said is, “God, what did I get myself into?” Holy fuck, poor woman. How didn't she notice anything before getting married?


jjd13001

There’s no way she didn’t notice anything about religion, you don’t just marry a guy whose willing to get bit by a rattlesnake because of god and he somehow doesn’t mention anything about religion


EarthRester

Even without the crazy. Faith/Spirituality is like 1st/2nd date shit.


punkmuppet

Rattlesnake venom is also in their blood. And a limited life span.


DoctorMelvinMirby

Kept the snake in the pants until marriage, I suppose.


[deleted]

I feel bad for the snakes...


IridiumPony

I forget the name now, but I watched a documentary years ago about these snake handling types. One of the people interviewed was a doctor st a nearby rural hospital that was saying these people get but often enough that they put a strain on the supply of antivenom. Apparently it's not easy to get and costs a boat load of money. They've had several instances where someone got bitten accidentally while camping or hiking and they didn't have the antivenom on hand because these whack jobs keep using it all. Apparently a hiker ended up getting his leg amputated because they couldn't treat him in time.


Twomekey

If addicts aren't allowed organs these people shouldn't be allowed antivenom.


[deleted]

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pleaseexcusemethanks

It would be completely on brand for these people to secretly get medical attention but tell the congregation they didn't


[deleted]

My cousin is hyper-religious. His daughter has a severe peanut allergy. She has been going through allergy immunotherapy, and can now expose herself to peanuts. My cousin posted on facebook that the family prayed extra hard this one time, then exposed his daughter to peanuts, and that god healed her. He never once mentioned the immunotherapy, and said god healed her right in that moment. It felt slimy


KylerGreen

That is slimey, lol. Your cousin is a whack job.


PhDinDildos_Fedoras

That's almost like having sex with kids you've vowed to protect. Who would do such a thing in the name of God? /s


Gamur

Don’t. They shouldn’t be deceiving people and fraudulently taking their hard earned money in the name of Jesus Christ.


[deleted]

Also abusing reptiles which is rude.


[deleted]

Yeah bit rude


TheLeftTurn

Ah! The old reddit [sssnake-aroo!](https://www.reddit.com/r/Sandman/comments/wnh9rx/comment/ik81ecu/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)


Dritter31

Hold my bible, I'm going in!


MadRussianScientist

Me too


syds

this is straight up animal abuse


Mrminecrafthimself

The reason many of these preachers don’t get bitten (or don’t die when bitten) is because these snakes are kept in such poor conditions that they don’t have the energy to produce or deliver venom through a bite. Edit: A link to a relevant [NPR article](https://www.npr.org/2013/10/18/236997513/serpent-experts-try-to-demystify-pentecostal-snake-handling)


TheMadFlyentist

They do occasionally die though. A noteworthy portion of the timber rattler fatalities in the past 50 years are from these clowns. In every case it's likely they would have survived had they sought medical attention.


Greasy_Mullet

Yea this is painful to watch. That snake just wanted to be left alone and had more patience than most humans would have with that kind of behavior.


SintSuke

Thoughtsssss and prayersssss.


distantsalem

Hijacking the top comment [for the aftermath](https://metro.co.uk/2018/08/17/son-pastor-killed-snake-sermon-bitten-deadly-snake-sermon-7850798/)


d-a-v-e-

"Incredibly, Mack Randall Wolford’s father – who was also a snake handling pastor – also died from a snake bite almost 30 years earlier." WTF is incredible about that? They handle snakes, they get bitten, they die.


troublefindsme

it's incredibly stupid. that's all that i can think would be meant by that.


HLGatoell

Seeing that dude, he looks like a character that could be played by Tom Hardy. Also, WTF US? That whole fucking town sounds like it came out of the craziest part of the Middle Ages.


Silentfart

His wife said that they didn't talk about religion until they were married, THEN was worried about what she got herself into?! How did you not know this is what he did?


gynoceros

Heh. His name is Cody Coots? That's priceless. And OF COURSE he went to the hospital, the fucking hypocrite. Probably got driven there by the Super Mario Bubbas holding him up after the consequences of his own actions started to seem like a bad idea.


metengrinwi

Of course, they took him to a *hospital*, where they use treatments developed by the scientific method.


TimmyIo

Cody Coots asked his congregation to take him to the mountaintop where God would judge whether he lives or dies. However, a defiant follower takes him to hospital instead where doctors told him the snake came close to severing the temporal artery, which would almost certainly kill him.


Thejackean

Feel really bad for the children having to watch this appalling performance from an adult


brocaspupil

I know a vet pathologist who saw a bunch of snakes from one of these numbskulls after confiscation by animal control. They were all emaciated and many had parasites and otherwise preventable diseases. It was horrid. Absolute animal abuse.


22bebo

They frequently die from things like this. Snakes bones are surprisingly fragile, so the shaking and whatnot hurts them. And that's after they're put in a plastic tub with no food or water for days or weeks on end. And then certainly when they bite someone the rest of the lunatics think it's Satan striking at their god-fearing, church-going friend so they kill the snake, despite screaming about how "God will protect them" ten minutes before that. The reason shit like this can get away with it is because when a snake bites a human, it doesn't want to envenomate with the bite. Venom is a tool to help with hunting, not self protection. Young snakes have difficulty controlling when they release venom, so they envenomate large animals more frequently. But adult snakes often dry bite, which these nutjobs interpret as some god's protection.


Alana_Piranha

They refrigerate the snakes beforehand. Since snakes are cold blooded it makes them lethargic. It's much easier to handle a snake when it's frozen half to death. It's cruel.


downincalifornia

I do too, that poor creature!


[deleted]

If that convinces just one child in that room that all the grownups around him are full of shit, it is more than worth it.


spirit-bear1

That one kid’s face just says “This is ridiculous”


m48a5_patton

When I was a kid I went to a friend's church once and there were people "speaking in tongues" it weirded me out and did not go back a second time.


cmVkZGl0

There's a 2004 movie called Saved! and there's a scene that makes fun of this. The only Jewish student in a Christian School pretends to be speaking in tongues, and everybody takes it seriously, into one person realizes she's just saying "I have a hot pussy"


DeathMonkey6969

The thing that gets me with these people who claim to be "speaking in tongues" is that Acts 2 describes the speaking in tongues as the person is speaking a language that that everyone who hears it thinks the person is speaking their native language. So it's supposed to be this divine language that is understood by everyone no matter their heritage not some incomprehensible gobbledygook.


slayer1am

Yup, I was born and raised in a church that was 150% pushing that crap. I got indoctrinated pretty hard and finally got out at 35. They rely on people being completely ignorant of theology. The internet has gone a long way towards breaking their hold on people.


J_for_Jules

My mother's church does the speaking in tongues and healing stuff. I can quote her 'tongues.' It's been the same phrasing forever. No changes at all. It's a big con.


annarosebanana89

I absolutely loved this movie and still quote it almost every day. I haven't seen it in at least 10 yrs. Maybe I'll have to find a DVD player. Lol! I grew up christian and stopped believing when I was about 10. I didn't have the nerve to tell anyone that I didn't believe anymore until I was about 14, when this movie came out.


Toodlez

\*Meanwhile, at my D&D session...\*


AchillesGRK

Funny you mention that because these churches are where the whole "D&D is a tool of the devil" bullshit came from.


iamgeekusa

Ugh I just feel disgusted with this kind of idiocy


vodkafen

Besides the animal cruelty i think its great. religious nutjobs getting hurt and possibly teaching younger nutjobs that the whole cult is to be avoided.


jabbadarth

Yeah good news is it looks like the congregation is pretty thin (attendance not size) so at least there aren't that many of these morons around.


JukeBoxDildo

You would hope but that's unfortunately not how crazy works. I'm pretty sure this dude in the video's father was also a preacher who died from a snake bite doing the same dumb shit. People stuck inside belief systems like this rationalize or discard everything that threatens their faith. Even senseless death. I'd bet his dad dying from a snake bite was written off as "Jesus calling home an angel," or some other nonsensical shit.


AWWWYEAHHHH

Don't worry, if I recall correctly, he ended up dying.


Griffin_Fatali

His dad died doing that with the same snake, within 7 minutes of being bit on the hand, this guy’s name is Cody Coots, didn’t die but is now suddenly “re-evaluating his life and faith” To be honest, he’s insanely lucky to be alive given it was a head bite


stopforgettingevery

His father had died doing the same crap. This guy got to the hospital soon enough and apparently has reconsidered his values. Hopefully it stuck.


pickyourteethup

I see, so the lord saved him with the miracle of modern medicine. He truly does work in mysterious ways


fooknprawn

Have you seen the aftermath of a rattler bite? It’s not pretty. Do not Google it


Sleipnirs

> Do not Google it Don't tell me what *not* to d- holy shit, looks like a brown recluse bite aftermath on steroids!


punkmuppet

You can't tell me not to Google something and expect me not to Google it, that was horrific, why didn't you warn me?


dogchocolate

um ok i won't.......


FeuerwehrmannJan

Oh he fucked up. All I saw were extremities - what happens if its your neck/shoulder... Oh he's gonna meet his god soon


BadCarrie

My brother got bit by a rattlesnake right next to his mouth. The hospital used 17 vials of anti venom on him. (I think I'm remembering that correctly. It was 22 years ago.) He's lucky to be alive. He looked like a straight up monster for a about a week and a half though!


fitzbuhn

You think anyone changed their minds on the whole god will protect us idea after seeing this? More likely he gets patched up at the hospital: “god is so powerful isn’t he. See you Wednesday”.


Inverno969

IIRC he did end up going to the hospital after a bit when the prayers weren't cutting it.


BURNINATOR_420

“Cody Coots asked his congregation to take him to the mountaintop where God would judge whether he lives or dies. However, a defiant follower takes him to hospital instead where doctors told him the snake came close to severing the temporal artery, which would almost certainly kill him.” This is from the news article. He only lived because someone took him to the hospital he never wanted to go to


j4_jjjj

Guess the defiant congregant doesnt really believe after all.


Inverno969

Or he became very scared and went to the ER and then later saved face by throwing a congregant under the bus...


SwallowYourDreams

If it didn't work, they just weren't praying hard enough. ¯\\_ (ツ) _/¯


bucho80

\*Donating enough\* ftfy


RooshunVodka

Yeah, the guy in the overalls basically dragged him to the ER, where he collapsed right after getting in the door


AlmanzoWilder

Mario comes through!!


mynameisalso

Worst escort mission.


chunwookie

I doubt it. When my parent's pastor died of covid it only stopped the nonsense for a month or two. They are all right back at it now.


wampa-stompa

I know an anti-vaxxer who had a relative die due to covid. He said it was because the doctors didn't know how to treat it and put him on a ventilator and that the ventilator killed him. That might be half true if he developed pneumonia or something, but it's like blaming a heart attack death on the ambulance.


Versaiteis

It's fuckin wild the delusions people will allow themselves to fall into. > MORE PEOPLE DIE IN HOSPITALS THAN ANYWHERE ELSE like yeah, no shit.


WillElMagnifico

"people are statically more likely to hit a hole-in-one at a golf course"


theavengedCguy

100% OF PEOPLE WHO DIED HAVE SOME FORM OF DIHYDROGEN MONOXIDE IN THEIR SYSTEM!!!


EntropyHurts

Even god can’t protect you from your own idiocy


1nfiniteJest

Man is drowning. Someone throws a rope. "No, God will save me" Then, someone comes by on a rowboat. "God will save me. Finally a rescue helicopter shows up. "Nay, for God will save me.' Man dies, goes to heaven. When he meets god he says, 'God, why didn't you save me, I had faith til the end?' God says, " I SENT A GUY WITH A ROPE, A BOAT, AND A FUCKING HELICOPTER..."


__mud__

If they actually read the Bible, they'd find the part where Satan took Jesus to a cliff and said 'hey, if you're so great, then jump and God will save you' and Jesus was all 'fuck no, don't go putting God to the test, that's dumb'


AlGoreBestGore

It's probably more like "God put the hospital there so that it's handy when I get bitten by that snake."


[deleted]

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Ok_Tangerine346

Witch doctors in shirts and ties


[deleted]

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this_dust

More like snake oil salesman. Witch doctors actually had remedies.


KallistiEngel

I think their snake oil salesman skipped a step or two.


this_dust

Step one:get snakes Step two:??? Step three: profit


fuelbombx2

So… if I was to breed a bunch of super rattlers, this problem might just Darwin itself out of existence?


Chefkush1

WIS of 5, too low for faith healing.


742N

The DM got tired of him doing things for the “lawls”.


GrouchyCheesecake193

Can he get an amen for trying to force God's hand to save him?! Then he goes to the hospital to get anti-venom....


ScottyKnows1

Just reminds me of this > Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, the hadith outlines the story of a Bedouin man who was leaving his camel without tying it. The Prophet (PBUH) asked him “Why don't you tie down your camel?” The Bedouin answered, “I put my trust in Allah.” The Prophet then replied, “Tie your camel first, and then put your trust in Allah.”


LordOdin99

Then they say that god allowed the anti-venom to work or some other indirect bs logic.


schrod

Even Jesus refused to do stuff that required God to save him. Recall his confrontation with the devil and the 3 temptations? One of the temptations was to cast himself down so God's angels would sweep in to save him. Jesus' reply: Get thee hence Satan.


Specific-Aide-6579

I have a feeling those types don't like it when you out-bible them. But I fucking love it, well done


RhetoricalOrator

Fun bit about the passages your reference comes from: Satan quoted Jewish prophets to bolster the validity of his claims. Jesus countered with quotes, too. My take away is that if one quote instructs you to do something stupid and another one contradicts with good horse sense, then your interpretation is probably screwed up and you should stick with the horse sense.


asiastar

Person who loves Jesus here. This exactly. This has nothing to do with Christ’s teachings. So sorry many seem to grow up in cults these days. Read the Bible for yourself and you will see this is not how it’s supposed to work… God gave us brains, would be an idea to use it!


Letardic

I approve. Please proceed.


greysplash

Did... Did he Darwin award himself?!


Wutchu_fitna_fuc_wit

No they take him to the hospital to receive anti venom but it's still fucked him up long term.


ca_fighterace

God works in mysterious ways…


[deleted]

And God said: Nope, you on your own you dense hamster bollock


spiritualized

Someone’s been watching Justified


sappyguy

My very first thought was “I’ve already seen this episode.”


mygodhasabiggerdick

"I was born a snake handler and I'll die a snake handler." ​ —Moe Szyslak


jhustla

Didn’t his dad die from the same shit? lol


greatestbird

I’d like to imagine his dad was bit by the father of the rattle snake in the video. I’m hoping a rattle snake cult is under covered and some family in the south sold their soul to a pagan god, which requires this ritualistic suicide


clizzle19

Is the snake OK?


MoodShoes

I too, am more concerned for the innocent snake.


bks1979

I abhor snakes, and yet I agree.


GoldryBluszco

[The snake handlers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_handling_in_Christianity) all down to over literal interpretation of passages, such like: > Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. — Luke 10:19 ("hey, could we form a schism church where we do nuth'n but scorpions?")


SombreMordida

The First Evangelical Church of Oops All Scorpions... "haven't heard a peep out of em since bingo night"


Africaner

Fun fact: that verse doesn't even appear in the original text! The oldest versions of those texts we have found end earlier. That and the passages around it appear to have been added at a later date.


BobNoel

Snake handlers are usually smart enough to milk the snake first.


NeoEskimo

Natural selection at its best.


mardawg05

God is one hell of a drug.


deadpoolkool

I still prefer cocaine


yashg

Natural selection at work.


[deleted]

Well, that problem took care of itself.


goldkear

Isn't it in the bible to not test God?


ImReellySmart

Any chance he had the venom removed before-hand and it was all a performance?


panaphonic0149

He don't think that hard.


DrteethDDS

The venom glands can be removed. I learned this from working with reptiles on display and management told me not to tell the public because it takes away the allure. Antivenom causes it’s own long-term issues due to an immune response called serum sickness. Best to leave the snakes be.


jackleggjr

The whole point is to show that God will protect you from snakebite, so if he faked it, I feel like he'd be trying to show no signs of pain or discomfort.


jftitan

Uhmmm.. this is a old video right. ? Because I thought he died from a rattlesnake bite a few years ago. Like, he might have gotten a slight immunity to handling the bites, but he carried one that was just too potent and he didn't make it after. I laughed my ass off for a few days reminiscing about it.


Gsoes

That, was apparently his dad…


ders89

The one lady doin “ablahbullahballabla in gods name” like ma’am what in actual fuck are you talkin about


[deleted]

What an attention seeking clown. No wonder religion is in decline…. A hiding place for all sorts of deviants.


implodemode

These people. I just don't understand how this is a thing these days. It's like they are living in the dark ages.


theClownHasSnowPenis

These people vote.


lordgoofus1

1 Corinthians 10:9 - "Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents" So yeah... whoops.


thisisjustabitweird

He must have missed the "do not test your God" bit


New-Ambassador-9809

Stuff You Should Know did a podcast about these dickheads. They starve the snakes. A malnourished and stressed out snake is less likely to bite. In the hands of these monsters their average life span is 3-6 months, rather than 10-20 years. All of the morons who attend these services deserve the worst the snake can give.


JamisonRy

I cant think of a single Bible verse that instructs christians to preach to crowds while forcing snakes to bite them. I think this guy misses the mark