http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...g-service.html
Serpent: Handling reptiles as part of religious services is illegal in Kentucky
A woman who followed a Biblical entreaty to 'take up serpents without being harmed' died after being bitten by a snake during a serpent-handling service at ******, police said
Linda Long, 48, of London, Kentucky, died Sunday at University of Kentucky Medical Center, said Brad Mitchell, a detective with the Laurel County Sheriff's Office said
Long died about four hours after the bite was reported, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported
Officials said Long attended East London Holiness ******. Neighbors of the ****** told the newspaper the ****** practices serpent handling
Snake handling is based on a passage in the Bible from the Gospel of Mark that says a sign of a true believer is the power to "take up serpents" without being harmed
Handling reptiles as part of religious services is illegal in Kentucky. Snake handling is a misdemeanor and punishable by a $50 (£39) to $100 (£78) fine
Police said they had not received reports about snake handling at the ******
Lt. Ed Sizemore of the Laurel County Sheriff's Office said friends went with Long to a local hospital Sunday afternoon, before she was transferred to the university hospital
****** officials could not be reached for comment
Those who have investigated snake handling have found that it is a popular misconception that the snakes won't bite the snake handlers in their religious ritual or that, if bitten, the handlers, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, won't die. Although exact records are difficult to substantiate, at least 71 people have been killed by poisonous snakebites during religious services in the United States. And that number includes the founder of the snake handling movement