Monday, February 17, 2014
Reality show snake handler dies from, get this, snake bite. National Geographic plans to air tribute. Seriously?
A Kentucky pastor who starred in a reality show about snake-handling in church has died -- of a snakebite. Jamie Coots died Saturday evening after refusing to be treated, Middleborough police said.
On "Snake Salvation," the ardent Pentecostal believer said that he believed that a passage in the Bible suggests poisonous snakebites will not harm believers as long as they are anointed by God. The practice is illegal in most states, but still goes on, primarily in the rural South.
Coots was a third-generation "serpent handler" and aspired to one day pass the practice and his church, Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus Name, on to his adult son, Little Cody.
It is rare that a belief system is so quickly and clearly demonstrated to be false. However in spite of that National Geographic believes it is in the best interests of the gullible public to pay homage to this superstitious moron:
National Geographic had no plans for a second season of Snake Salvation, says a network rep, but is now planning a special tribute episode “so people can understand Pastor Jamie and his method of worship and see that he died doing what he believed was his calling.” NatGeo also sent in the following statement on Coots’ passing:
National Geographic joins his family, friends and community in mourning the loss of Pastor Jamie Coots. In following Pastor Coots for our series Snake Salvation, we were constantly struck by his devout religious convictions despite the health and legal peril he often faced. Those risks were always worth it to him and his congregants as a means to demonstrate their unwavering faith. We were honored to be allowed such unique access to Pastor Jamie and his congregation during the course of our show, and give context to his method of worship. Our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time.
Yes let's celebrate the life of an individual whose belief system cost him his life, the life of several of his parishioners, and continues to put members of his family in danger on a daily basis.
This is dangerous religious zealotry and should NOT be celebrated but rather confronted in the hopes of ending it forever, or ignored in the hopes that it will spread no further.
National Geographic has every right to report on the primitive cultures around the world, and strange religious practices both here and in other locales, but it should not glamorize one so inherently dangerous by giving these people their own television show and demonstrating to others that the way to fame and fortune is to put yourself, and your family, in danger for the entertainment of the masses.
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