{"id":{"repo_id":"cape-town","oai_identifier":"oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/38906"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cape-town/oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/38906","repository":{"repo_id":"cape-town","name":"University of Cape Town","base_url":"https://open.uct.ac.za/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"The Southern snake-handling cult of the U.S.A","abstract":"At the turn of the Century, in the rural areas of the deep south, a small group of fundamentalists adopted the practice of confirming their faith by handling venomous snakes. Today the cult has spread to at least twelve different States, despite the fact that since 1947 snake handling has been prohibited by law in all states except one. The cult-members, however, regard the legislation as being a violation of their fundamental right to worship as they please. Fatalities occur, the leaders spend time in prison, but still the cult flourishes, with various congregations quite openly flouting the law. In addition to handling snakes, the cultists also drink poison and handle fire, according to their interpretation of the Bible.","abstract_html":"At the turn of the Century, in the rural areas of the deep south, a small group of fundamentalists adopted the practice of confirming their faith by handling venomous snakes. Today the cult has spread to at least twelve different States, despite the fact that since 1947 snake handling has been prohibited by law in all states except one. The cult-members, however, regard the legislation as being a violation of their fundamental right to worship as they please. Fatalities occur, the leaders spend time in prison, but still the cult flourishes, with various congregations quite openly flouting the law. In addition to handling snakes, the cultists also drink poison and handle fire, according to their interpretation of the Bible.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Shapcott, Moira"],"institution":"Department of Religious Studies","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Chidester, David"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1988,"date_issued":"1988","date_published":"1988","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:09Z","subjects":["Snake cults (Holiness churches)"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/11427/38906","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Chidester, David"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Shapcott, Moira"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2023-09-27T13:56:56Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2023-09-27T13:56:56Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["1988"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["Department of Religious Studies"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["Masters","MA"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Snake cults (Holiness churches)"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/38906"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["At the turn of the Century, in the rural areas of the deep south, a small group of fundamentalists adopted the practice of confirming their faith by handling venomous snakes. Today the cult has spread to at least twelve different States, despite the fact that since 1947 snake handling has been prohibited by law in all states except one. The cult-members, however, regard the legislation as being a violation of their fundamental right to worship as they please. Fatalities occur, the leaders spend time in prison, but still the cult flourishes, with various congregations quite openly flouting the law. In addition to handling snakes, the cultists also drink poison and handle fire, according to their interpretation of the Bible."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Southern snake-handling cult of the U.S.A"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Chidester, David"],"dc:creator":["Shapcott, Moira"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2023-09-27T13:56:56Z"],"dc:date.available":["2023-09-27T13:56:56Z"],"dc:date.issued":["1988"],"dc:description.abstract":["At the turn of the Century, in the rural areas of the deep south, a small group of fundamentalists adopted the practice of confirming their faith by handling venomous snakes. Today the cult has spread to at least twelve different States, despite the fact that since 1947 snake handling has been prohibited by law in all states except one. The cult-members, however, regard the legislation as being a violation of their fundamental right to worship as they please. Fatalities occur, the leaders spend time in prison, but still the cult flourishes, with various congregations quite openly flouting the law. In addition to handling snakes, the cultists also drink poison and handle fire, according to their interpretation of the Bible."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/38906"],"dc:publisher.department":["Department of Religious Studies"],"dc:subject":["Snake cults (Holiness churches)"],"dc:title":["The Southern snake-handling cult of the U.S.A"],"dc:type":["Master Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["Masters","MA"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:09Z"}