# These people are just very sad to me



## Katybug (Feb 22, 2014)

Can't get the link to work, but it's quoting the adult son of the snake handling pastor who died very recently from being bitten.  He says he will be handling the same snake on Sunday that killed his dad and will refuse any medical attention if he's bitten.  It's hard to feel bad for these people when they appear to be downright begging for trouble.


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## Justme (Feb 22, 2014)

They are completely off their heads, and I have absolutely no sympathy for the crazy guy who died from his bite and refused to have the anti-venom!


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## Davey Jones (Feb 22, 2014)

They are religious fanatics,nothing sad about it.
They knew those snakes are dangerous,same as that zoo keeper who thought the tiger was friendly and could cause no harm.


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## SeaBreeze (Feb 22, 2014)

Had to look that one up.  http://www.tmz.com/2014/02/22/snake-salvation-cody-coots-jamie-rattlesnake-church-medical-treatment/

I have no sympathy at all for these people, they'll do anything to be in the spotlight.  Good that they're saving the anti-venom supply for those who really deserve it.


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## Vivjen (Feb 22, 2014)

No sympathy from me either.....


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## Pappy (Feb 22, 2014)

They might just as well play Russian Roulette. Idiots.


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## SifuPhil (Feb 22, 2014)

Snake handling, walking on hot coals, breaking blocks of ice with your head ... these are all matters of either faith or spirit, or perhaps of confidence in oneself. 

There is a small group of Shaolin monks in China that train what is called _Iron Body_ training. It has several variations but they are all based upon subjecting the body to extreme strikes, blows, pulls, etc. until they are physically and mentally strong enough to appear to be miracle workers.

I'm not going to post any videos on this one - I DO have them - but one specialty is called _Iron Egg_ training, where the practitioners subject themselves to kicks to their groin several hundred times a day, 6 days a week, for a year. The kicks start off gentle and by year's end they are kicking full-force. Another way they display their ability is to pull heavy objects - in one case, a _bus_ - by a rope attached to their genitalia.

Lots of folks call THEM crazy as well, but they see it as achieving absolute mind/body control, which is sometimes only a short jump away from faith.


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## That Guy (Feb 22, 2014)




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## SifuPhil (Feb 22, 2014)

I HAVE broken boards with hands, feet, elbows, knees and head, along with bricks, concrete slabs and, once, 6 boards, no spacers (harder to break), on fire while I was blindfolded.

That my arm hair caught on fire is of absolutely no importance in this discussion.



> the human body can only take so much, no matter how much you train.



But _because_ of that training it can take more than your average bear ...


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## SifuPhil (Feb 22, 2014)

I'm not too sure it's a guy/gal thing - there have been quite a few ladies over the years that could do the same things I did, even better on occasion. Granted more guys than gals are attracted to martial arts - we like to grunt, sweat and hit things  - and even those Shaolin temples have a few nuns that are seriously hard-core.

In fact, the legendary macho-man Bruce Lee started off studying a martial art called Wing Chun, which was invented (and practiced quite well) by a nun. 

But I agree things like this aren't for everybody. Heck, it would be boring if they were!


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## littleowl (Feb 23, 2014)

They have the same brain as Homer Simpson.


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## Judi.D (Feb 23, 2014)

I can understand the monks training their bodies and minds to tolerate extreme physical activity. However, the snake handlers believe that handling poisonous snakes prove their faith and salvation. They also include young impressionable children in their beliefs, and death has resulted for children as young as 7. Also if you research this practice you find that many of the leaders of this religious practice have died from snake bites, including it's so called founder.


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## Jillaroo (Feb 23, 2014)

_They were on a Current Affair show here a few months back, and at the time i thought how stupid they were to believe the good lord wouldn't let the snake bite them, well that didn't go too well did it_:fword:


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## rkunsaw (Feb 23, 2014)

I know I'm going to get some heat for saying this but In my opinion religions and stupidity go hand in hand. These snake people are more extreme than most, but all religions have beliefs and practices that just don't make sense.


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## Justme (Feb 23, 2014)

There is no evidence any deity actually exists let alone rides to the rescue!


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## SifuPhil (Feb 23, 2014)

Judi.D said:


> I can understand the monks training their bodies and minds to tolerate extreme physical activity. However, the snake handlers believe that handling poisonous snakes prove their faith and salvation. They also include young impressionable children in their beliefs, and death has resulted for children as young as 7. Also if you research this practice you find that many of the leaders of this religious practice have died from snake bites, including it's so called founder.



I realize it's a quantum leap in thinking between the two, but I think the common denominator is belief or faith. Exactly _where_ that faith is placed is the bugaboo ... 

The monks believe in themselves and in their teachers - the snake handlers believe in God to protect them. 

If this were a casino, the monks would own it and the handlers would be the customers.


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## Rainee (Feb 24, 2014)

Same here .. just no sympathy.they are really crazy! tis all I can say!


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## Gael (Feb 24, 2014)

Saw this guy on the news this morning. Really out there at the end of the dock! Hurtful to see it all in a supposedly Christian setting.


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## Davey Jones (Feb 24, 2014)

rkunsaw said:


> I know I'm going to get some heat for saying this but In my opinion religions and stupidity go hand in hand. These snake people are more extreme than most, but all religions have beliefs and practices that just don't make sense.




Im telling the Pope what you just said...so there.


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## That Guy (Feb 24, 2014)

rkunsaw said:


> I know I'm going to get some heat for saying this but In my opinion religions and stupidity go hand in hand. These snake people are more extreme than most, but all religions have beliefs and practices that just don't make sense.



That's why it's called Faith.


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## rkunsaw (Feb 24, 2014)

That Guy said:


> That's why it's called Faith.



It makes no sense at all to have faith in something that common sense tells you it can't be true.


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## Gael (Feb 24, 2014)

rkunsaw said:


> It makes no sense at all to have faith in something that common sense tells you it can't be true.



And that they call blind faith! Well, it's also about how you interpret scripture.
This is interesting:

http://www.gotquestions.org/snake-handling.html


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## That Guy (Feb 24, 2014)

rkunsaw said:


> It makes no sense at all to have faith in something that common sense tells you it can't be true.



There is no sense in trying to make sense of it.  It's just faith.  One man's truth is not necessarily another's.  I think the mistake is going around trying to convince others that one's way is the only way.


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## SeaBreeze (Feb 24, 2014)

rkunsaw said:


> I know I'm going to get some heat for saying this but In my opinion religions and stupidity go hand in hand. These snake people are more extreme than most, but all religions have beliefs and practices that just don't make sense.



I agree Rkunsaw, not calling the believers stupid, as they obviously need something to guide them in their lives, and if they found it, good for them.  Just don't preach to me and try to get me to join the flock, that will backfire.  Born and raised Catholic here, who hasn't participated in my entire adult life.  Seeing those preachers (and believers) on the Sunday morning TV shows, even for 2 minutes, pushes me further and further away from any religion really.

Many wars and killings have occurred in the name of religion.  There is a lot of hate in the hearts of many religious people, hatred for those who don't look like them, act like them, or live their lives like them. They don't have the 'live and let live' attitude, which is a lot healthier, IMO. 

A person who doesn't have to be threatened to live a kind and loving life, with burning in hell, is more of the person that I am and want to be around.  A person that doesn't think they're going to be rewarded in their "heaven" by dozens of virgins, is the kind of person I want around.

Religion is a business in the modern world, I know because when I was a child, people would know on my mother's door and try to sell her on their religion, today, 55 years later, they still knock on mine.  I send them on their way after the first 3 words. The snake in this case is just a side show in the three ring circus.


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## SifuPhil (Feb 24, 2014)

That Guy said:


> There is no sense in trying to make sense of it.  It's just faith.  One man's truth is not necessarily another's.  I think the mistake is going around trying to convince others that one's way is the only way.



I've been on religious and spiritual forums by the score, even an atheist forum , and the one thing that seems to predominate is that everyone is trying to convince everyone else that their viewpoint is the only right one. 

The atheists scream for proof - well, faith is not a system that _uses_ proof, so they can't very well provide it. As a result they get ridiculed.

Then the believers go after the atheists, quoting Scripture and verse and demanding that the atheists prove that their faith is in error.


... I sit on the side and munch on my popcorn, occasionally flicking a piece of it at someone when they're particularly entertaining. opcorn:


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## That Guy (Feb 25, 2014)




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