Woman dies after being bitten by snake at church

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/130346,cst-nws-snake09.article

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 about four hours after being bitten, authorities told the newspaper.

[ClintonTyree]

1. We can't expect to know god's plan.

Apparently Linda was needed in heaven a little sooner than thought.

Snake handling in the name of the lord. :eyes: And they're scared of homosexuals moving next door to them. :banghead:

[sweetpotato]

2. She didn't have "the spirit"

that's really a sad way to go.

[anniebelle]

3. Must not have been a true "believer".

[liberal N proud]

4. Where's the back door? There isn't one - Where do you suppose they want one?

I have heard about these kind of churches

[Daneel]

5. Thats just horrible

All of you who joke about this do you realize someone died here, who probably had many loved ones or even kids that must grow up without a mother?

[Tanuki]

6. Of course, but she still made an extremely stupid choice.

All the more stupid if she was a mother of dependent children and needlessly put herself in a position of mortal danger by fanatical grandstanding.

[Bluebear]

7. I apologize if any of Ms. Long's relatives happen to read this thread.

OK?

[Bucky]

12. I think the minister ought to apologize more than us

but yes, insinuting this woman was deserving of her fate is pretty tacky, or at least Calvinistic

[treestar]

8. So did Ted Bundy

And what she did is so irresponsible - if she had children she is now leaving them to be someone else's responsibility.

Admit it, these people are extremists and don't reflect the general Christian viewpoint.

But then you might have to admit that about the Muslims, too.

[Clark2008]

11. I consider it a form of mental illness and would never make

fun of it, myself.

I think being that 'charismatic,' in the religious sense, is a mental illness.

The woman and her family should be pitied, not teased.

It's sad that people can be so brainwashed. It's sad that there is so much dispair in the world that people think they need to resort to such lengths to "prove" their faith. God doesn't need you to hold dangerous creatures to know that you love Him - he needs only to hear it from you and see it in your postive actions toward your fellow humans.

[Gato Moteado]

16. yeah, but look at the bright side......

.....one less republican voted in KY tuesday.

[Bucky]

9. I'm tired of these motherfuckin snakes in this motherfuckin chapel!

I'm smelling a sequel here, folks.

[Hubert Flottz]

10. Was it a one eyed serpent like Teddy took up?

Was she on drugs too or what?

[DoYouEverWonder]

13. There are a lot of snakes in the world

that are not poisonous. Maybe next time they might want to use one of those.

If these folks were using venoumous snakes, they should be charged with murder. Keeping venoumous snakes requires special permits and keepers never let people, who don't have experience handling snakes, touch a venoumous one.

[Selatius]

14. Her faith was her weakness, and she paid the price of abandoning reason

A reasonable person would dispense with the snakes, and perhaps an even more reasonable person would question superstition, religious dogma, holy texts, and those claiming to know the "truth," too.

[ellacott]

15. Very true

Many people don't research things for themselves. Although that scripture is in the Bible it is not part of the original text.