Snake Power

Last August, during an evening service at the white frame Holiness Church of God in Jesus' Name at Big Stone Gap, Va., Oscar Pelfrey. 65, stood before the congregation holding a pair of writhing timber rattlesnakes. "I believe, Jesus, O Jesus, I believe--thank you, Jesus!" cried Pelfrey, a lay minister of the church. Suddenly, one of the rattlers struck him on the left temple. Taken home, he refused medical attention and died six hours later.

Last week a Virginia Circuit Court of Appeals convicted a member of the Big Stone Gap congregation, Roscoe Mullins, 50, of violating a state law against handling snakes "in such a manner as to endanger the life or health of any person." (Another defendant, Kenneth Short, was acquitted of the same charge.) The prosecution claimed that Mullins had also handled the snakes at the service, thus endangering other worshipers. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and a $50 fine. Released on $2,000 bond, Mullins said that he would appeal all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary, on the ground that the Virginia law violated his constitutional rights to religious freedom.

Mostly Illegal. Mullins' conviction--the first under Virginia's snake-handling law in 21 years--was a reminder that the use of serpents in worship is still alive in the mountain villages of Southern Appalachia. Across rural Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina, dozens of small fundamentalist churches regularly include the handling of rattlers or copperheads as part of their services. How many snake handlers there are is not really known. Generally they are as secretive as moonshiners, and for much the same reason: the cult is illegal except in West Virginia.

Snake handling, which has been practiced in the South since the turn of the century, is based on Jesus' words in Mark 16: "In my name they will cast out demons; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing it will not hurt them." The snakes, which are kept in special boxes by leaders of the congregation, are usually brought out as the climax to frenzied revival meetings that may last for as long as four hours. "When the ecstasy of the Lord is upon you and you take up serpents," explains Mullins, "you have no fear. You got to believe this yourself. If you move too fast sometimes, or too slow, you'll get bit. But if you are under the anointing power of God, the serpent won't hurt you."

Amputations and Death. Of course, God does not always provide his anointing power. Mullins' right hand was amputated in 1953 after he was bitten by a rattler, and some church experts estimate that there may be as many as 75 snakebites a year as a result of the services. Nonetheless, the snake handlers' faith remains unshaken. They argue, in fact, that the deaths are simply God's way of answering detractors who accuse the sects of using defanged serpents. As for the late Oscar Pelfrey, says Mullins, "he died 100% in his faith." Why, then, was he bitten? "I can't explain it. That is between him and God. It was God's will."

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