Woman fatally bitten by snake in church
LONDON, Ky. - A woman who was bitten by a snake at a church that neighbors say practices serpent handling died of her wounds hours later, a newspaper reported.
Linda Long, 48, was bitten Sunday at East London Holiness Church, where neighbors said the reptiles are handled as part of religious services, The Lexington Herald-Leader reported Tuesday.
Long died at University of Kentucky Medical Center about four hours after being bitten, authorities told the newspaper.
"She said she was bitten by a snake at her church," said Lt. Ed Sizemore of the Laurel County Sheriff's Office.
Handling reptiles as part of religious services is illegal in Kentucky. Snake handling is a misdemeanor and punishable by a $50 to $100 fine.
Police said they had not received any reports of snake handling at the church.
Snake handling is based on a passage in the Bible that says a sign of a true believer is the power to "take up serpents" without being harmed.
Church officials could not be reached for comment.
(I guess she wasn't a "True Believer")
4 comments:
Did the snake have a forked tongue? Was there an apple nearby, perchance? Was her name Eve? What the devil are they doing playing with snakes? Was the Minister cross?
daniel - like the article says, snake handling is based on a passage in the Bible that says a sign of a "true believer" is the power to "take up serpents" without being harmed. Um...I guess she must have been a "doubting Thomasina". Religion makes people do the most asinine things.
Just imagine if the passage in the Bible read "take up sharks"?
Snake handling is a misdemeanor and punishable by a $50 to $100 fine.
And sometimes Death.
D'oh!
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