Modern Snake Handling 101

Over lunch the other day, the conversation turns to religion. One of the women with whom I’m eating looks at me. “Were you raised Catholic?” she asks. “I was raised southern Baptist with people doing cartwheels down the aisle and everything,” I tell her. “But, now I’m more spiritual than religious and I don’t follow any particular organized faith.” (The cartwheels were a slight exaggeration, but we did attend a very charismatic church when I was a little girl.) “Southern Baptist?” she repeats. “Not to be offensive, but aren't those the people that like handle snakes? Did you ever handle snakes?!?!” I look up from my food. The expression on her face is one of genuine concern. Oh my, she’s actually serious! For a moment, I consider making a joke about having snakes in my possession, but I start laughing so hard that my eyes water. “Are you serious? Of course not.” “Well, I didn’t know …” she seems embarrassed. “It’s just when you said cartwheels …” Apparently, no one gets my humor. No one. “I was kidding,” I assure her. “No one did cartwheels and no one handled snakes.” “… It’s just that I saw this segment on Dateline years ago and I thought maybe that was the same religion …” “I’ve heard of the snake handlers, but those aren’t Baptist people.” Ever the collector of Odd and Useless information, at home that evening, I Google snake handlers and discover that Dateline NBC Correspondent John Larson did a story, "Snake Handling in Scottsboro, Alabama," in January 1995. If you'd like to learn more about the snake handling practices of the Holiness-Pentecostals in rural Alabama, here is more information.