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Article: Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia.
- Article from:
- The Christian Century
- Article date:
- August 16, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1995 The Christian Century Foundation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The serpent handlers look you. A surprising number of supposedly objective observers have been captivated by the spirit of this Appalachian sect. English professor and novelist Dennis Covington first encountered the serpent handlers while covering the trial of Glenn Summerford as a stringer for the New York Times. Summerford, a serpent-handling preacher, was charged with attempting to murder his wife, Darlene. Convinced that she had been unfaithful, Summerford had thrust her hand into a box of rattlesnakes. She was bitten, and he was convicted of attempted manslaughter receiving a 99-year prison sentence. The trial took place in Scottsboro, a county-seat town in the Sand ...