EverymanThey Shall Take up Serpents: Portrait of a Sect
1985 • E3 27. jan. 1985
With these words as their guide, members of some churches in West Virginia, USA, handle poisonous snakes in their church services.
This extreme Biblical literalism has been banned in the surrounding states, but in West Virginia it remains legal, despite the occasional deaths of participants.
This film examines the routes of Christian snake handling in the harsh coal-mining environment of the state, and in the traditional Protestant fundamentalism of its people.
The Everyman team gained access to one of the snake-handling services, and filmed scenes of extraordinary religious fervour, never before shown in such detail on television.
This extreme Biblical literalism has been banned in the surrounding states, but in West Virginia it remains legal, despite the occasional deaths of participants.
This film examines the routes of Christian snake handling in the harsh coal-mining environment of the state, and in the traditional Protestant fundamentalism of its people.
The Everyman team gained access to one of the snake-handling services, and filmed scenes of extraordinary religious fervour, never before shown in such detail on television.