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'Snake Salvation' Pastor Dies From Snakebite

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  • 'Snake Salvation' Pastor Dies From Snakebite

    By GILLIAN MOHNEY


    Jamie Coots, the pastor of the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus Name in Middlesboro, Ky., and his followers believe that God calls upon them to handle venomous serpents.

    A Kentucky preacher famous for handling snakes during religious services, has died after being bitten by a poisonous snake at his church.

    Jamie Coots was bitten at his church in Middlesboro, Ky., and died after Coots refused to go to the hospital for further treatment, according to police.

    The Middlesboro Police said they believed Coots was 42 years old.

    Coots was the star of National Geographic's "Snake Salvation" reality series, which followed the 42 year old as he worked to preserve his way of religious way of life at his church, the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus Name.

    Coots told ABC News during an earlier interview for "Nightline" that he and his followers believe that God calls upon them to handle venomous serpents and to drink other poisons. If bitten, Coots and his parishioners refuse medical treatment because they believe that their fate is in God's hands.

    Snake Handling: Religious Right or Community Menace?

    Police said they received a call about a snakebite injury around 8:30 from Coots' church. However, when emergency responders arrived at the scene, Coots had already driven home about one to two miles from his church.

    Police and medical personal then went to his home and found that Coots had been bitten on his hand. For another 40 minutes medical personal stayed with Coots and tried to persuade him to go to the hospital for further medical attention.

    Coots refused and eventually the emergency responders left. An hour after they left, another call was made from Coots' home to say that the pastor had died. Emergency personal and the coroner was dispatched to the scene. Currently the death is being treated as a non-criminal investigation.

    Both Coots' father and grandfather handled snakes as Pentecostal preachers and Coots wanted to pass on the tradition to his son. Last year Coots showed ABC News his backyard snake shack. He had a permit that allowed him to legally keep the animals.

    West Virginia Preacher Dies From Snakebite

    In 1995, one of Coots' parishioners suffered a fatal snake bite in 1995 after she refused anti-venom.

    "If someone gets bit in my church and they're not immediate family. I will call 911 and have the paramedics come out and let them tell the paramedics they don't want medical treatment," Coots told ABC News during an interview for "Nightline" last year.

    Coots told ABC News he had been bitten nine times and even lost his finger during a previous bite since he refused medical attention.
    The Hackmaster

  • #2
    'Snake Salvation' Deadly Rattler Will Rise Again Next Saturday

    BY TMZ STAFF

    The rattler that took a deadly bite out of "Snake Salvation" pastor Jamie Coots will not be killed ... in fact, the family will deploy the snake during next Saturday's service ... TMZ has learned.

    Coots was bitten Saturday while he was preaching to his congregation and died after refusing medical help ... believing he was protected from the venom by God's power.

    Jamie's son Cody tells us, the family still believes in God's protective power against snake venom -- despite his father's death -- telling us his dad felt it was much better to die from a snakebite than a stroke or car accident ... in fact, for him a snakebite was "God's way."

    Cody -- who will take over as pastor -- says, "It was God saying, this is how you wanted it, and it's your time to go ... If he didn't plan [to die this way] he would have stayed alive."

    As we reported ... even though using snakes during religious services is illegal in Kentucky, the police chief told us he would NOT enforce the law.
    The Hackmaster

    Comment


    • #3
      Guess they never read the Scriptures that say not to DARE GOD.

      Years ago, we had some snakers working in the steel mill where I work, & one of them chided me for listening to rock music, while I was tapping a heat of steel. I asked him if he had enough faith to jump into that ladle of molten metal. He said, "Oh, that's DIFFERENT!" I replied, "REALLY? Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego were cast into a furnace about as hot as this steel, and they paraded around in it & emerged unharmed, not even smelling of smoke. " He mumbled something about my not having any faith & walked off.

      Notice those cats hedge their bets. The snake they have in the pic is a timber rattler, perhaps the least-aggressive poisonous snake in North America. If you look at other pics of SH services, they almost always have timber rattlers...and I bet it was kept in a cool place, perhaps even a fridge, before the service. Thus, it was somewhat torpid to begin with, and most likely welcomed the touch of warm hands, long as it wasn't squeezed or moved rapidly.

      However, a rattler is a rattler, & it will defend itself if it feels threatened, and obviously, the other eve, ole Sneaky Snake felt threatened by Mr. Coots.

      I believe all their "churches" are phony as a Ford Corvette, and they violate the Bible by DARING GOD not to protect'em from the snakes.

      And I still say they hedge their bets. Betcha they wouldn't try handling a king cobra, black mamba, or diamondback rattler that way. And I bet they wouldn't play Russian Roulette with an autoloader, either.
      I come from a smart family...In the Civil War, my great-grandpa fought for the WEST.

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