Banning of Dangerous Rituals

In a news item, snake-handling and the drinking of poison in connection with religious services were reportedly banned by the Tennessee Supreme Court. Liston Pack, a lay pastor of the Holiness Church of God in Jesus Name near Newport in eastern Tennessee, had been barred by a county court from handling or exhibiting poisonous snakes during services in his church. Several people had died as a result of such rites. (Encyclopedia of Illustrations #3478).