Courtesy of NBC News:
West Virginia preacher Mark Randall "Mack" Wolford, who believed Christians should handle snakes to test their faith, died after a rattlesnake bit him over the weekend.
Wolford was bitten on the thigh about 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon, but he didn't come to the hospital until 10:30 p.m., a nursing supervisor at Bluefield Regional Medical Center told the Charleston Daily Mail. The incident occurred during an outdoor service at Panther State Forest, about 80 miles west of Bluefield in southern West Virginia, the paper said.
Wolford had turned 44 on Saturday. He had seen his father die of a snakebite when he was teenager, the Daily Mail reported.
The Washington Post Magazine had profiled Wolford in a story in November about the snake-handling faith. The Post said adherents cite Mark 16:17-18: “And these signs will follow those who believe: in My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Snake-handling is legal in West Virginia, and Wolford was trying to keep it alive there and in neighboring states where it is not, the Post reported.
The Daily Mail reported that Wolford was bitten Sunday by a yellow timber rattlesnake -- named Sheba -- that he had often handled.
And do you know what? Next Sunday the church will be filled with people handling snakes, speaking in tongues, and blaming Satan for taking away their preacher.
Cause believing all of that is so much easier than facing reality for some people.
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ReplyDeleteThis is an old story. It happened back in May 2012.
ReplyDeleteFamous redneck and drunk Hank Williams, Jr was referring to snake-handling and sister-fucking when he wrote "Family Tradition". TeaBaggers just love that kind of shit.
ReplyDeleteI swear - so many Americans in our world today are absolute idiots. Once again, this is related to religion that is truly on the wild side!
ReplyDeleteSnake-handling is legal in West Virginia.
ReplyDeletePlus, it's not only legal to marry first cousins in WV AL, MS, TN, AR, TX, LA, GA, FL, KY, and SC, but it's also encouraged. You know, cuz it's in the bible in Red States.
It is NOT legal to marry a first cousin in West Virginia.
DeleteLOL If ye caint reed, its leegal.
Delete12:45 PM
DeleteIt's not legal to marry a first cousin in all of the states that you mentioned although you are correct about some of them. Do your homework. Nobody needs to make up stuff about the South ... the South makes themselves look stupid enough without anyone being dishonest or ignorant of the laws.
Notice that none of the six states that allow first cousin marriage "under certain circumstances", are in the South. Notice also that there are several states not located in the South that do allow marriage between first cousins.
http://www.ncsl.org/research/human-services/state-laws-regarding-marriages-between-first-cousi.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cousin_marriage_law_in_the_United_States_by_state
I do believe the folks in the north look dumber than the folks in the south. For one, we don't live in the north. I rest my case. And in 55 years, I have never met anyone in the south that married a cousin. Just because it may be legal doesn't mean it happens. And nobody encourages it. Many laws on the books are eons old. Many states have laws against oral sex. Think that one is followed? Grow up.
DeleteOT: Duck down! 'Duck Dynasty' returns to lower ratings after controversy
ReplyDeletehttp://insidetv.ew.com/2014/01/16/duck-dynasty-ratings-controversey/
Bwahahahaha! The Palin curse strikes again!
DeleteGuess it's time to switch from ducks to snakes!
DeleteFor all you dog lovers out there in IM world, is this how it is with dogs?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCRDskZrUMU
Depends on the dog.
DeleteIt *is* how it is with cats.
hope Sheba's OK
ReplyDeleteSomething tells me Sheba will be just fine.
Deletelol!!
ReplyDeleteDarwin award winner next year!!
Only if he hasn't bred yet.
DeleteOtherwise, he's just following in his Father's footsteps. One can only hope his offspring have finally learned the lesson.
Tel Aviv unveils first memorial to gay Holocaust victims
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25687190
Better late, than never!
Aaaaaaaaaand the Palin curse strikes again!
ReplyDeleteDuck Dynasty Premiere Ratings Down Following Phil Robertson Controversy
...As Entertainment Weekly reports, Wednesday night’s premiere drew a respectable 8.5 million viewers, far more than most prime time network shows do this day and age. But, it was a 28% drop compared to the show’s fourth season premiere in August of last year, which drew 11.8 million viewers. Last night’s total was more on par, though still lower, than the third season premiere in February 2013, which had 8.6 million.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/duck-dynasty-premiere-ratings-down-following-phil-robertson-controversy/
Everything Palin touches and/or voices her support, ends up plagued! T
DeleteThese guys still had a large number of viewers, but was glad to see many have dropped out based on their horrible comments! The main one being their suggestion men marry girls when they are young so they can be trained! .
I don't understand why anyone would be interested in there show...I've never seen it and never will.
Morons. In the bible, a snake represented the devil and here they are handling them.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't say they have to be poisonous serpents.
DeleteWhat? A rosy boa won't do?
There's a funny collection of news articles about pastors behaving badly. It baffles me why people follow Bible-toting con artists.
ReplyDeletehttp://pimppreacher.com/
Thinning the herd.
ReplyDeleteI am a left wing, bleeding heart liberal Christian. This is nuts. Whoever believes that handling poisonous snakes is biblical is nuts.
ReplyDeleteThat verse isn't telling people to go out and handle snakes.
ReplyDeleteStupid is as stupid does.
And...you can't fix stupid...
DeleteSheba was damn sick and tired of him handling her.
ReplyDeleteBelief in nonsense...
ReplyDeleteDamn lucky snake to survive after a bite of that toxin.
ReplyDeletePlaying with snakes is a cop-out. If they really wanted to test their faith, they'd all drink poison.
ReplyDeleteJim Jones et al.
DeleteIt would also appear that "God" has one a hell of a sense of humour!
ReplyDeleteSheba 1
ReplyDeletePreacher 0
Darwin 1
Deletecon-man 0
Issue missed by many is that the snakes used in these services live less then three months due to starvation and abusive handling. These snakes can live on an average of 25 years. We had one timber rattle snake live 30 years under the stress of being on venom production line. Only snakebite deaths in KY in last 25 years were timber rattlesnakes biting religious snake handlers that delayed treatment. Having reviewed most of these deaths the majoritry happened with freshly collected snakes. Most of the cast of Snake Salvation have been busted for poaching snakes for sell or trade not for their religious handling.
ReplyDeleteWhy didn't God protect him from the snake?
ReplyDeleteI think God was more concerned with protecting the snake. Humans are a dime a dozen but snakes are becoming endangered.
DeleteNext time, believe harder. Oh wait, there ain't a next time. Hope they move the snakes to someone who knows how to care for them properly. Animal abuse is just wrong.
ReplyDeleteThe headline alone cracked me up. Great post. Incidentally, it is legal to marry a first cousin in New York State.
ReplyDeleteDont mock, Gryphen.
ReplyDeleteIt's obvious to us true believers that when God encounters a problem too difficult for Hisownself to handle - say, for example, a 48-sided Rubix Cube - on His own, He sends a holy angel snake down from Heaven to bring back the most pious, god luvin' people there is: snake handlin' hillbilly preachers.
Consider it the religious version of the A-Team....