christianity much differently than many of their christians. using venomous snakes as part of their service. why? they point to the new testament, the gospel of mark. it s stated in part, they shall take up serpents. believers say when god anoints them, they have an obligation to do this, and god will protect them. even if they are bitten, their belief is god will heal them. no doctors necessary. if it looks dangerous, that s because it is. it s also illegal in the state of tennessee. but that only strengthens the pastor s conviction. snake handling in churches is a tradition in decline. it s against the law to have snakes in a church in tennessee. does that concern you? no, sir, it doesn t. if someone wants to get bit and die, i know the authorities would come in on us and shut us down. that s why i stress so much to my people to make sure. if it s their appointed time to die, there s nothing i can do to prevent it.
pastor in tennessee. he his wife and the rest of the congregation practice christianity much differently. using venomous snakes as part of their service. why? they point to the new testament, the gospel of mark. it s stated in park, they shall take up serpents. believers say when god anoints them, they have an obligation to do this, and god will protect them. even if they are bitten, their belief is god will heal them. if it looks dangerous, that s because it is. it s also illegal in the state of tennessee. that only strengthens the pastor s conviction. snake handling in churches is a tradition in decline. it s against the law to have snakes in a church in tennessee. does that concern you? no, sir, it doesn t. if someone wants to get bit and die, i know the authorities would come in on us and shut us
this is a piece of the documentary. daniel, first to you. can you explain to all of us, the use of snakes. this is how literally folks translate the gospel of mark. that s right. the gospel of mark is an important passage for snake handlers. there two lines. one is that they shall follow those who believe me. they shall take up serpentents. the pastor takes that as a divine commandment. that would be disa baying god. this pastor was missing half a finger. he has been bitten. i don t know how many times this was generational. he was hoping to pass along to his son. gabriel, me about what you and your crews saw. in these sorts of snake handling
what is the purpose and why is this important, especially to you, jennifer. this is important to me because the playing field for kids in america is not equal. i ve traveled around the country with save the children going into homes and seeing the way that kids are growing up. 16 million kids growing up in poverty in america. and without starting from the very beginning and getting an earlier start on their education, they have very little chance of catching up. jennifer is from west virginia. mark, you ve traveled the whole country. one in four kids live in poverty. we think food, shelter. school doesn t come to mind. what is the critical nature of the connection to school? i think as jennifer said, when kids are entering kindergarten, they re entering 18 months behind kids who don t live in poverty. we have a huge gap.
looks critiqued more savagely. i think that s undeniably true. the question came what about chris christie. i ve never heard her comment on the looks of rush limbaugh who quite frankly looks like he just swallowed the goodyear blimp. this comment about the pope, she said something that is true. he s kind of liberal. i have a news flash for governor palin. jesus was kind of liberal, too. he s the one that told the rich, young man obey the commandments and then if you want to get to heaven and be perfect, sell all your earthly goods and give them to the poor. it s the tenth gospel of mark and repeated in the 19th gospel of matthew. this is what the holy father is doing. he s trying to do what st. agustin told us to do. he told us to imitate the life of christ. very few people can live up to that.