About 100 churches throughout the Appalachian region of the U.S. still use the practice of picking up venomous snakes during worship. They're part of a small branch of Pentecostal Christianity and are committed to preserving this 100-plus-year-old practice as a test of one's faith. While the practice is illegal in almost all states, many believers argue it should be protected as a matter of free exercise of religion - and that it’s targeted because it’s misunderstood. After decades of covering religion, journalist Julia Duin covered snake-handling preachers for a Washington Post Magazine article. After a high-profile death in the snake-handling community, Duin wanted to profile several of the preachers keeping this practice alive, including a new generation being featured in a National Geographic series called "Snake Salvation." She chronicles their journeys in the book In the House of the Serpent Handler: A Story of Faith and Fleeting Fame in the Age of Social Media.
Julia Duin, religion reporter and author of In the House of the Serpent Handler: A Story of Faith and Fleeting Fame in the Age of Social Media.
Author and religion journalist Julia Duin
(Photo courtesy of Julia Duin's website)
Pentecostal preacher Andrew Hamblin takes up a snake during a worship service.
(Photo by John David Hatch)
Snake-handling preachers in Harlan County, Ky., in 1946.
(Photo by Russell Lee, NARA | Wikimedia Commons)
