Comments on: Letting someone die for their faith: Moving essay by photojournalist who documented snake handler's death

By: nuschu

nuschu — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 17:25:00 +0000

Jesus told me to dial my phone and save your dumb ass.. problem solved…

By: Phil Fot

Phil Fot — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 10:19:00 +0000

I hate it when that happens!

By: UniAce

UniAce — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 04:34:00 +0000

Hang on, did anyone else actually read the article and catch the following line?: ”A family member called paramedics when Mack finally allowed it, but it was too late.” To repeat: “when Mack finally allowed it”……
It’s all such an enormous and unfortunate waste of human potential.

By: teapot

teapot — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 07:37:00 +0000

Yeah personally I don’t get it. It’s illegal to commit suicide, it’s illegal to attempt suicide – but it’s totally sweet to play with snakes that can kill you and refuse medical intervention if you get bitten?

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 00:13:00 +0000

Look at the shape of the head. It’s short and flat, typical of rattlers.

By: otfet6

otfet6 — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 20:28:00 +0000

This is a tangential and pedantic point, and I’m only an amateur, and the photograph is probably just for atmosphere … but that snake in the photograph does not look venomous to me. If I had to guess I’d say it’s a mature Royal Ball Python, which could kill by constricting around a man’s neck but it’d be pretty tough, and is generally considered a gentle and non-aggressive species of snake which makes a good pet.

By: Diogenes

Diogenes — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 18:14:00 +0000

Not at all, remember, we’re filtering out the dopes. They’ll ignore the warning signs.

By: Tim H

Tim H — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 16:12:00 +0000

The guy and his family were taking a gamble, he might not die and if he did it’d be a miracle and we’d've never heard them shut up about it.

By: townandgownie

townandgownie — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 15:47:00 +0000

Or, there’s no god? Wonder which is more rational?

By: townandgownie

townandgownie — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 15:46:00 +0000

Whew. Finally a rational comment. I was getting worried there.

By: mindysan33

mindysan33 — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 15:07:00 +0000

Yes, without a doubt I agree with you. But maybe we’re not smart enough to know how smart mass murder of “the other” is?

By: EeyoreX

EeyoreX — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 09:49:00 +0000

As others here have pointed out, the situation described here does not match the situation Kevin Carter was in.

My gut reaction to Lauren Pond’s specific situation is that if she feels she was was present as a journalist, to document his stupid, irresponsible behavior and the inevitable outcome thereof, then she did the right thing by just photographing him as he died.

If, on the other hand, she was present as a friend or part of the congregation then, yeah, she’d be an accessory in the “negligent homicide” that the Facebook guy quite rightly feels that he’s been part of. But then again, roles can become tangled when you’re on assigment.

One aspect I think is missing from the discussion is that Wolford essentially forced those around him to watch him die, wich is a terrible thing to do to another person. If I’d been put in that situation by someone, I’d probably save his life with godless science just to spite him.

By: John Maple

John Maple — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 08:11:00 +0000

. . . Christ kept a doubter with him (Thomas) so what does that say about their understanding?
Keeping some doubt is healthy. Not doubting is scary because it can lead to a proverbial hell.

By: Petzl

Petzl — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 06:13:00 +0000

Snakes don’t kill people, snakehandlers kill people.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 04:50:00 +0000

First, the cop car comes to his house to warn him that the flood is coming. Then the boat comes to his window. Then the helicopter comes to the roof. I first heard it in the 1960s. It’s an old joke.

By: Culturedropout

Culturedropout — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 03:24:00 +0000

I dunno – I first heard it as two boats and a helicopter too… Just sayin’

By: bzishi

bzishi — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 00:25:00 +0000

None of them will call. Christian snake handlers believe that being bit is a test and God will heal them (unless he doesn’t will it). Nobody would call because that would be doubting God.

This is just more religious brain damage as far as I’m concerned.

By: Mantissa128

Mantissa128 — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 00:21:00 +0000

Thank you. I was going to point out the alternate account of what happened, which is very different from the usual interpretation. I guess we’ll never really know for sure.

By: Ito Kagehisa

Ito Kagehisa — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 23:04:00 +0000

Perhaps you are so smart that all of the rest of us are well below average, eh? When you pass away in the fullness of time, we will all become much smarter, as compared to the arithmetic mean.

By: Ito Kagehisa

Ito Kagehisa — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 23:04:00 +0000

Wouldn’t warning signs defeat your purpose?

By: Zod

Zod — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 21:48:00 +0000

pointless and stupid…

By: travtastic

travtastic — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 20:57:00 +0000

I know the ‘average intelligence’ line is supposed to be funny, but it’s really annoying.

By: MTBooks

MTBooks — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 20:45:00 +0000

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Carter
Check out the context of the infamous photograph. It made me rethink my knee-jerk reaction from just seeing the picture.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 20:20:00 +0000

Dude, it’s “a police car, a boat and a helicopter.”

By: blueelm

blueelm — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 20:14:00 +0000

The thing about ethical and moral dilemmas is that they are dilemmas. If she had no capacity to have qualms about making a choice that was difficult and conflicting, she’d probably be a sociopath.

By: blueelm

blueelm — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 20:12:00 +0000

Thanks for saying that. It amazes me the degree to which people can not distinguish women from children… in all ways really.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 20:12:00 +0000

He evolved a sense of humor.

By: occula

occula — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 19:42:00 +0000

I’m an atheist who has no use for religion as a direct result of being raised by fundamentalists. Generally I try not to point one religion out as being stupider or crazier than others because I believe they are all equally made up. But jesus christ man.

By: John Smith

John Smith — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 19:35:00 +0000

Steve Irwin would be proud of him.

By: blissfulight

blissfulight — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 19:25:00 +0000

Only way to help a starving child is to feed the mother.