Snake-handling

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Snake-handling. A practice in certain Pentecostal churches mostly in the mountains of the SE USA. It is inspired by the words in Mark 16. 17–18. Handling snakes while in an ecstatic state thus becomes a sign of one's faith and possession of the Holy Spirit. The American Civil Liberties Union has defended snake-handling religion as a test case of the constitutional right to freedom of religious belief.

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