"Pastor" Jamie Coots of the Full Gospel Tabernacle
in Middlesboro KY has died. He was bitten by a rattle snake during a Church
service on Saturday night, and, as per his religion, he refused medical
attention. He died mere hours after the
EMS team BEGGED him to go to the hospital.
He was the "pastor" of a Holiness church in KY, by Holiness, I
mean a snake handling, poison drinking, jumpin' and hollerin' church. Now, as someone who was raised in the midst
of this type of religion, and who has, on more occasions than I can to recall,
be in a church that believes in snake handling, I find that I have mixed
emotions when I hear this news.
For those of you who don’t know, Jamie Coots appeared on a
reality show called Snake Salvation on the Netgeo channel. He had already been bitten twice, and had
lost most of his middle finger (which rotted, yeah, ROTTED off) because of a
snake bite. He never sought medical
attention for any of the bites he received during Church services.
I can understand WHY they believe as they do, because of a
literal interpretation of the words in Mark 16: 17-18, which says (KJV)
"(17) And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall
they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; (18) They shall take
up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they
shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."
That simple passage is what their belief in snake handling
and poison drinking is based on.
Growing up not far from a Holiness church, and attending
services more than I care to remember, I realize that many of the people that
attended these services when I was a child did not know how to read. Most of them were from coal mine families
where simply surviving was much more important than receiving an education. There is no shame in that, particularly when
you realize that I was a child in the 60’s.
Most of these people didn’t read the Bible, they took the Preacher’s
word for what it said and what it meant.
The prejudices that were held by the Preacher were usually held by the
members of the Church simply because they DID NOT KNOW BETTER.
But does that make it right?
Now, before many of you start flipping out on me, I will
NEVER say that the Bible is wrong. I
WILL say that the Creator gave us a very rare gift, and it is called COMMON
SENSE. He gave it to us to USE and
common sense tells us DO NOT PICK UP A RATTLE SNAKE AND RUB IT ON YOUR
FACE!!
Many Churches today still believe in speaking in tongues and
laying on hands. Many of them anoint an
ill person with oil and “lift them up in prayer”. Most of them believe that a person can be
inhabited by the “spirit” of evil. ALL
of them do wondrous, positive things for uncountable thousands. Churches aren’t all bad, not by a long
shot.
But places like the Full Gospel Tabernacle in KY and the
Westboro Baptist Church in KS, well, they leave me with a feeling far removed
from FAITH. They leave me with fear and confusion.
Westboro is quite simply a large group of bigots and neo-Nazis
who enjoy hurting those around them.
They gather in the name of “God” to tear down, belittle and emotionally
damage people around them. They are all
the things I believe a Church should NOT be.
No-one should teach HATE in the name of GOD.
Now, the Full Gospel tabernacle, that’s a different
story. I am sure that the Full Gospel
Tabernacle did many positive things for its members and most probably for its
community, I don’t believe that they are a positive force in the grand scheme
of things.
Like I said, I have been to a snake handling service (don’t
ask) and I have felt the maniacal glee that surrounds the believers, it’s a
feeling that is indescribable. They have so much faith, so much passion for
what they are doing that it literally fills the room.
But so do serial killers.
I’ve never attended anything having to do with the Westboro
bunch, nor would I ever. They seem to be
a large collection of hateful people bent on the destruction of anyone who
dares NOT believe as they do. They have
driven more people AWAY from the Church than they have ever brought to it. (The same can be said of the Holiness
Churches, I’m a prime example)
I guess it comes down to something very simple for me. Today, when I heard the news of Jamie Coots
death, I was sad for his family and for those you loved him. I wasn’t surprised that he died of a snake
bite, I have known of others in this religion who have. I wasn’t surprised that he refused medical
attention, his faith told him that he would be safe if he simply believed and
that if he sought medical attention that he would surely go to Hell. A small part of me felt vindicated, as
horrible as that sounds. I have always
known that handling snakes was a dumb thing to do and that, although God
protects idiots and children, sooner or later you will get bitten.
But the thing that struck me the most was a simple memory
from my childhood.
I had left a Church service where they brought out some
snakes. My Granny was upset with me and
she asked me why I had left. I told her something
very simple that still to this day holds true.
I said, “There is a thin line between faith and stupidity. Handling snakes crosses that line.”
Was Jamie Coots stupid?
Or was it simply his time to move on?
