“Handling snakes doesn’t impress anyone, lets see those crazy bastards handle a 400lb tiger while walking on fire… that’ll gain ’em some respect.” – tallwookie
Associated Press – November 7, 2006:
A southeastern Kentucky woman was bitten by a snake during a church service and later died, a law enforcement officer said. Linda Long, 48, of London died Sunday at University of Kentucky Medical Center, said Brad Mitchell, a detective with the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office.
Long died about four hours after the bite was reported, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.
Officials said Long attended East London Holiness Church. Neighbors of the church told the newspaper the church practices serpent handling.
Snake handling is based on a passage in the Bible, in the Gospel of Mark, that says a sign of a true believer is the power to “take up serpents” without being harmed.
If I’ve learned one thing in life, it’s that you don’t mess with the Snake!
Yes. Principles.
I did not know anything about the person other than she was female. That’s what I mean. My criticism concerning the whole tragic matter was based on that only. Of course I read about the handling of the snake, and the (symbolic?) reason for the handling based on scriptures in the bible.
I am a very practical person. You might call me simple. But if anyone claim there are miracles, I want to see them before I believe them. And if the reason for handling poisonous snakes without sufficient safety measures is to prove one is a true believer, and fails,……. Well, my practical reasoning leads to conclusions.
I’m getting personal when I reply to persons posting here in this forum. When someone ask me whether I’ve been:
“..molested by a preist or something? Or maybe you’re pissed that you weren’t molested by a preist?”
I’m getting personal, and take the liberty to reply.
I’m a person who believe we have one life, and only one chance to live it. I think that to cut it short by (in lack of other words) doing stupid things, is surely tragic.
Again, I am sorry for your loss. And I hope you would have done things differently if you could have. Unfortunately, that’s not possible.
Please enlighten me. What do you assume that I should have done differently? As I have stated before, I have not handled snakes, nor do I have the desire to do so. I just refuse to judge someone. Seems to me you have a problem with religion and anyone that does not believe as you do is a “brainless idiot” The difference that I see is I would never pass judgement on you for not believing in religion. That is your choice, my friend. Miracles of differing degrees happen everyday, just because you don’t see them does not mean they don’t happen. It’s just like the old saying, I’ve never seen a million dollars, but that does not mean it’s not real. I noticed that the first posting was yours, which means at that point your were not defending your integrity. If you do believe in one life and only one chance to live it, it seems sad that one would choose to alienate people just because they believe differently from yourself. Intolerance, not religion is the problem.
The enlightenment:
Correction from
“And I hope you would have done things differently if you could have.”
to
“And I hope they would have done things differently if they could have.”
My take on religion, not least christianity, is for instance the judgmental attitude to those not sharing their belief. If you fit in; great. If not, you’re a doomed soul. The bottom line is that they (the ones not sharing the belief) are doomed to hell with all the misery that goes with it. I think that’s a horrible attitude to fellow beings. If that’s not judging someone, I don’t know what is.
I’ve heard stories of unicorns. I have never seen one, but that’s irrelevant. As unicorns are mentioned in fables, they must be real, right? Just because I can’t see them, does not mean they’re not real, right? I’m sorry, I can’t follow your reasoning there. Though I have no problems realizing “a million dollars” are reality.
You say: “Intolerance, not religion is the problem.”
I say: Religion = Intolerance, and that is the problem.
The degree of intolerance varies, but christianity is among the worst.
Whew!
It now comes down to the truth, obviously you have a problem with Christianity. Not sure what your specific experience has been, but you certainly have a huge chip on your shoulder because of it. However, to lump everyone who does believe in God as someone that is passing judement on you and the way you choose to live your life is the intolerance I’m talking about. Everyone has choices, that’s one thing we all have, free will. Wars throughout time have been waged in the name of “God”, be it Roman’s against Christians, Nazi’s against Jews, Crusaders against Muslims…etc, etc. Were they wrong? Of course they were.
You mention fables. Webster’s definition;a fictitious narrative or statement: Of course unicorns mentioned in those fables are not real, nor are Minotaurs, dragons or Medusa. All wriiten for amusement.
Miracles on the otherhand, whether it be the child who was never suppose the walk or talk, the person with a cancer that was there one day and mysteriously is gone the next are real. Can they be attributed to God? Having seen these things happen with the only intervention being the prayers of believing people, I have no doubt..
Will I ever change your mind? Of course not. I would never presume to. As I said before, you have free will. Faith is a personal decision each of us have to make, obviously you have made yours.
Pam
“….you have a problem with Christianity.”
Yes, that’s correct. I don’t share the belief, and many aspects of it are, in my opinion, not positive at all. And the impact it has among people of different faiths is also very often negative, even destructive.
In my opinion, the bible is partly factual, partly a collection of fables. The creation, Eden, devil, birth by a virgin, the same virgin ascending to heaven in flesh and blood in real life, are just a handful of examples of stories I consider being fables.
I have no problems what so ever concerning what people believe, just as long as it does not have any negative impact on others. In fact, I couldn’t care less.
It’s when a faith have political impact, or makes life difficult for third parties because of faith based decisions or actions in a “non faith environment” (sorry, couldn’t come up with a better expression), I am opposing.
I also think it’s very sad when somebody does not get medical help due to faith. Or when even family members get expelled from family because they don’t share the faith. Or putting kids in a terrible position because they would break their parent’s heart if they came “out of an atheist closet”. Or somebody hurts them self practicing their religion. Nothing much that can be done to prevent the latter, unfortunately. It’s like smoking. It’s legal, but may harm your health severely.
So, believe in what ever you feel for. I don’t care. But keep it personal. And for your own sake, keep it safe. You might say that’s my “huge chip on my shoulder’.
As far as I know, there is no verifiable proof that prayers work. Mind on it’s own is strong and can do lots of things we didn’t think was possible. But to thank a deity for some minor good things that happens is a far stretch. Especially if you look around in different parts of the world and look at tragedies that really could do with some help from a helpful god. Apparently, mankind’s gods are real picky to whom they listen and interact. Of course, this is just my personal observation and opinion.
Anyway, don’t get me wrong. I do think it’s overly interesting discussing these intriguing aspects of mankind, and I thank you for being sincere.
I agree with the majority of what you say. My point from the very beginning was the words that you choose to use to pass judgement on an individual that you did not even know. Her religion and beliefs were hers and they too were personal. Please understand, your choice about religion or Christianity is yours and it too is personal. To commemorate is this forum words that are hurtful to perhaps her friends or even family members should they happen upon this site, I still feel were thoughtless. Imagine reading those words about your mother or grandmother from a total stranger simply because the stranger did not approve of her life style. No difference that someone passing judgement because of sexual orientation or as in your example coming out of the “atheist closet”. Yes, it’s very unfortunate when religion is used for political purposes. I suppose that God, any version, is tried of being called down on any side of political struggle or war.
I hope that you understand. Freedom of speech is an awesome thing, however when that freedom may affect another person, one should think before using such a powerful tool.