religion and snakes

[jason longboard]

this one is evil

 

[hamato_yoshii]

This has been a pretty good discussion.

I am a Christian, and I gues here are my .02.

I think that if one tried you could without a doubt come up with not just an argument, but a valid one, on why a believing mother would not want her son to own a snake. Now, I personally would not agree with it, because it does border on legalism, because I dont believe that the snake is inherently evil, so, you would be putting an unjust restriction on something that doesn't deserve it. While there certainly is talk in the NT about surviving po. snakes and scorpions, Jesus isn't necessarily prescribing to His listeners to go and combat deadly snakes and scorpions just for fun.
Also, I think that Paul's points about eating meat that was sacrificed to idols, would be helpful for this discussion. Paul says that (I'm paraphrasing) he has no problem eating meat that was sacrificed to an idol or a false god, because he knows that the meat really is not being sacrificed to that idol because they don't actually exist. So, he could eat that meat all day long and it doesn't comprimise his faith at all. BUT, he does say that it's not wrong for someone to not eat that meat if they feel that it comprimises their faith. He also tells us that we should not only repect that, but actually refrain from eating that meat when around that brother or sister, because it is a weak area for them.
This can be applied here. While I dont necessarily agree with the restriction on snakes (I have cared for many), all I can do is lay out why I may feel otherwise, and then wait for a response. If the other person still feels the same then I am to support them, and do what I can to help, this is also part of a Christians duty.
So, it sounds like she didn't want to move on the snake issue, but decided to give a little and allow a bearded dragon instead. I think this was a good decision on her part.

 

[Ophiuchus]

You cannot just say its in the Bible, since people wrote the bible. Through this it was people percieving an animal best representing the devil was a snake, which means that people have had an already negative opinion of a snake before applying it as the symbol of evil.

I guess this depends on whether you're a believer. Man wrote the Bible under God's direction. Of course, God couldv'e easily burned the text into stone as He did the 10 commandments, but we humans learn better if we hear something and write it down ourselves, so I think there's a good reason why God chose to go that route.

But then again, snakes are not the most holyest of creatures. "Stealing" eggs, eating baby rodents, baby birds. A very mechanical like instinct living. No eyelids, with there blank stare, and fork tongue and method of locomotion they are very formidable looking. In addition there is venom and contriction, the way snakes eat there prey, it is a long death, compared to a quick gulp or twist of the neck. It is human nature to freak out at things we consider unmoral and unhumanlike, such as the death of a cute baby mouse or rabbit, and the strange movement of a legless creature.

I see your point, but like someone else said, it really is simply about interpretation. Many animals steal eggs, and eat the young of other animals. But I'll admit that a snake's legless form and mode of locomotion is something completely foreign to the rest of the vertebrate beasts. And people are often fearful of the unknown.

However, once again, I would like to emphasize that the creature that tempted Eve in the garden was NOT A SNAKE and that even after its curse, may not have been a snake even then. Please read my original post on page 2 of this thread.