Talk:Snake handling in Christianity

Skip to table of contents

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Snake handling in Christianity article.
This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject.

Put new text under old text. Click here to start a new topic.
New to Wikipedia? Welcome! Learn to edit; get help.

Article policies

Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL

Archives: 1: 90 days

Evangelical Christianity Mid‑importance

	Evangelical Christianity portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Evangelical Christianity, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Evangelical Christianity on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Evangelical ChristianityWikipedia:WikiProject Evangelical ChristianityTemplate:WikiProject Evangelical ChristianityEvangelical Christianity articles
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.

Christianity: Holiness / Charismatic / Evangelical Mid‑importance

	Christianity portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Christianity, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Christianity on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.ChristianityWikipedia:WikiProject ChristianityTemplate:WikiProject ChristianityChristianity articles
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by WikiProject Holiness movement (assessed as High-importance).
	This article is supported by WikiProject Charismatic Christianity (assessed as High-importance).
	Evangelical Christianity portal This article is supported by WikiProject Evangelical Christianity (assessed as Mid-importance).

Religion: New religious movements Low‑importance

	Religion portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Religion, a project to improve Wikipedia's articles on Religion-related subjects. Please participate by editing the article, and help us assess and improve articles to good and 1.0 standards, or visit the wikiproject page for more details.ReligionWikipedia:WikiProject ReligionTemplate:WikiProject ReligionReligion articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by New religious movements work group (assessed as Mid-importance).

Appalachia

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Appalachia, a collaborative effort to increase coverage of Appalachia and the Appalachian Mountains. If you would like to participate, go to the project page to see a list of related articles needing attention.AppalachiaWikipedia:WikiProject AppalachiaTemplate:WikiProject AppalachiaAppalachia articles
???	This article has not yet received a rating on the project's importance scale.

Amphibians and Reptiles High‑importance

	Snake handling in Christianity is part of WikiProject Amphibians and Reptiles, an effort to make Wikipedia a standardized, informative, comprehensive and easy-to-use resource for amphibians and reptiles. If you would like to participate, you can choose to edit this article, or visit the project page for more information.Amphibians and ReptilesWikipedia:WikiProject Amphibians and ReptilesTemplate:WikiProject Amphibians and Reptilesamphibian and reptile articles
High	This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale.

Tip: Anchors are case-sensitive in most browsers.

This article links to one or more target anchors that no longer exist.

[[Mark 16#Canonical status|canonical status]] The anchor (#Canonical status) has been deleted by other users before.

Please help fix the broken anchors. You can remove this template after fixing the problems. | Reporting errors

Sources Cite error: There are `<ref>` tags on this page without content in them (see the help page).

I am storing these there to use in the next few days. Hope that's okay.^[1]^[2]^[3] Summerford trial/Dennis Covington ^[4] Laws in Ky^[5]

References

^ "Serpent Experts Try To Demystify Pentecostal Snake Handling". NPR.org. Archived from the original on 2021-09-11. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
^ Coyne, Jerry A. (January 15, 2014). "Tennessee: Where 'Religious Freedom' Frees Snake Handlers to Abuse Animals". Archived from the original on September 11, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2021 – via The New Republic.
^ "Snakes in a Church: Should the Law Protect the Religious Liberty of Serpent-Handlers?". Archived from the original on 2021-09-12. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
^ Covington, Dennis (February 15, 1992). "Alabama Trial Involves Snakes And Bit of Faith". Archived from the original on December 12, 2020. Retrieved September 12, 2021 – via NYTimes.com.
^ https://www.cnn.com/2014/02/26/opinion/cevallos-snake-handling-law/index.html

Merger proposal

I propose merging Snake handling in religion into Snake handling in Christianity. Most of the material in the Snake handling in religion page is about Christianity, including the separate sentence on the Ophites which were a Christian sect. That could easily be folded in. As for the one sentence on Hopi snake-handling rituals, that could easily be folded into the kachina article. Snake Handling in Christianity is a far superior article to Snake Handling in Religion, which really only adds two sentences of value.DynaGuy00 (talk) 03:14, 20 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Well, the previous split was performed by User:Scyrme as part of reorganisation per the above discussion. This doesn't seem to be a topic that needs a WP:broad-concept article overview though. Agree that the two sentences should be accommodated elsewhere. Snake handling is now a disambiguation page, and links can be listed there for navigation purposes. --Paul_012 (talk) 10:24, 20 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Merge - I agree that there is not really a subject beyond snake handling in Christianity. The couple of mentions elsewhere are not enough for an encyclopaedic article, and that this page is really the main page on this subject. I think User:Paul_012's response looks like a !vote to merge too. This request has been open over a month. I have just got here, but it has probably been long enough for User:DynaGuy00 to request closure. Sirfurboy🏄 (talk) 17:44, 27 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Y Merger complete. DynaGuy00 (talk) 00:17, 30 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

"Snake handling in religion" listed at Redirects for discussion

An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect Snake handling in religion and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2022 December 8 § Snake handling in religion until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. –LaundryPizza03 (d c̄) 19:29, 8 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Cruelty

Whilst the article is reassuring on the safety of observers and, in most cases, the fondlers; nowhere does it mention this is gross cruelty to animals, nor of any prosecutions for such by the multifarious governments in the United States.

Extra: on the previous Talk Page, there was a suggestion referenced to the reputable History Channel that the practice was brought over by Calvinists from Europe.

Now my opinion of Calvinism is unprintable, but apart from it's inherent unlikelihood --- Pressies are just not that sort of people --- one would have to produce evidence of the practice being used in Europe during the Renaissance and later, for it to be then exported by loons.

Claverhouse (talk) 02:58, 20 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Watch the commentary ("loons"). Aside from that, you'd need reliable sources to make additions on animal cruelty issues. — The Hand That Feeds You:^Bite 20:20, 21 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I would postulate that exhibiting shy animals such as snakes, and playing about with them without their consent is implicitly cruel. Claverhouse (talk) 23:06, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

That's original research. We can't just conclude it ourselves, we need reliable sources which state it. — The Hand That Feeds You:^Bite 11:57, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Featured picture scheduled for POTD

Hello! This is to let editors know that File:Handling serpents at the Pentecostal Church of God. (Kentucky) by Russell Lee. - NARA - 541335.jpg, a featured picture used in this article, has been selected as the English Wikipedia's picture of the day (POTD) for July 16, 2024. A preview of the POTD is displayed below and can be edited at Template:POTD/2024-07-16. For the greater benefit of readers, any potential improvements or maintenance that could benefit the quality of this article should be done before its scheduled appearance on the Main Page. If you have any concerns, please place a message at Wikipedia talk:Picture of the day. Thank you! Kentuckian |💬 05:27, 12 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Snake handling in Christianity is a rite performed in several churches in the United States. Originating in rural Appalachia, the first instance of snake handling was seen about 1910. Pentecostal minister George Went Hensley was prominent in the early development of the rite. Practitioners commonly quote the gospels of Luke and Mark to support the practice. Practitioners are also encouraged to lay hands on the sick, speak in tongues, and occasionally drink poisons. This photograph, taken by the American photographer Russell Lee in 1946, depicts snake handling at the Church of God with Signs Following, a Pentecostal church in Lejunior, Kentucky.

Photograph credit: Russell Lee; restored by Adam Cuerden

Recently featured:

[1] "Serpent Experts Try To Demystify Pentecostal Snake Handling". NPR.org. Archived from the original on 2021-09-11. Retrieved 2021-09-12.

[2] Coyne, Jerry A. (January 15, 2014). "Tennessee: Where 'Religious Freedom' Frees Snake Handlers to Abuse Animals". Archived from the original on September 11, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2021 – via The New Republic.

[3] "Snakes in a Church: Should the Law Protect the Religious Liberty of Serpent-Handlers?". Archived from the original on 2021-09-12. Retrieved 2021-09-12.

[4] Covington, Dennis (February 15, 1992). "Alabama Trial Involves Snakes And Bit of Faith". Archived from the original on December 12, 2020. Retrieved September 12, 2021 – via NYTimes.com.

[5] ttps://www.cnn.com/2014/02/26/opinion/cevallos-snake-handling-law/index.html

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

Sources .mw-parser-output .brokenref{display:none}Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page without content in them (see the help page).

Merger proposal

"Snake handling in religion" listed at Redirects for discussion

Cruelty

Featured picture scheduled for POTD

Sources Cite error: There are `<ref>` tags on this page without content in them (see the help page).