Editing Snake handling in Christianity (section)

== Risks ==
The handling of venomous snakes has significant risks. [[Ralph Hood]] observes, "If you go to any serpent-handling church, you'll see people with atrophied hands, and missing fingers. All the serpent-handling families have suffered such things".<ref name="ng"/> [[Jamie Coots]], a pastor who subsequently died from a snakebite, said, "Handlers get bitten all the time, and every few years someone dies".<ref name="npr">{{cite news |last=Burnett |first=John |url=https://www.npr.org/2013/10/18/236997513/serpent-experts-try-to-demystify-pentecostal-snake-handling |title=Serpent Experts Try To Demystify Pentecostal Snake Handling |date=18 October 2013 |publisher=NPR}}</ref>

Various figures for the total number of deaths from [[snakebite]] during religious services have been proposed:
* "over 100 documented deaths" (2003) by [[Ralph Hood]].<ref name="ng"/>
* "around 120" (2005) by [[Robert Winston]].<ref name="guardian">{{cite web |last=Winston |first=Robert |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/oct/13/religion.scienceandnature |title=Why do we believe in God? |website=[[The Guardian]]|location=London |date=13 October 2005}}</ref>
* "about 100 deaths" (2013) by [[Julia Duin]], a journalist who has covered snake handling churches and is writing a book on the subject.<ref>{{cite news |first=Julia|last=Duin|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2013/09/10/snake-salvation-inside-the-world-of-christian-serpent-handlers/ |title='Snake Salvation': Inside the World of Christian Serpent Handlers |date=10 September 2013 |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |access-date=23 April 2016}}</ref>
* "91 documented snake bite deaths" (2015) by Paul Williamson, professor of psychology at [[Henderson State University]] and co-author of books with Ralph Hood.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/despite-pastors-death-followers-are-still-handling-snakes/ |title=Despite pastor's death, followers are still handling snakes |publisher=CBS News|date=26 February 2014 }}</ref>
* "105 cases that were found in literature."(2015) by Amy Waters.<ref>{{cite thesis |id={{ProQuest|2043000260}} |last1=Waters |first1=Amy |date=2018 |title=Social-Envenomation: A Ritual of Snake-Handling Churches }}{{page needed|date=April 2024}}</ref>
Another source indicates that 35 people died between 1936 and 1973.<ref name="cgg">{{cite web |last=Ford |first=Mike |url=http://cgg.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Library.sr/CT/RA/k/831/Should-Christians-Handle-Snakes.htm |title=Should Christians Handle Snakes? |website=cgg.org |date=August 2003 |accessdate=29 June 2017}}</ref>

Hood also notes that the practice does not present a danger to observers. There is no documented case of a non-handling member being bitten by a serpent handled by another believer.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hood |first1=Ralph W. |title=Them that Believe: The Power and Meaning of the Serpent-Handling Tradition |url=https://www.religiousstudiesproject.com/response/stereotypes-and-dangerous-rituals-a-reflection-on-the-academic-study-of-serpent-handling-by-travis-warren-cooper/ |website=religiousstudiesproject.com |access-date=11 August 2014}}</ref>