This is when religion asks that you do dangerous things:
This is real. These churches still exist.
They do handle snakes and drink poison.
I wouldn’t join one, but West Virginia is the only state that specifically protects this religion from any kind of regulation.
This is the southernmost county in West Virginia– McDowell County.
I actually lived for many years just down the road from such a church in Tenessee. One heard occaisionally of congregation members dying from mainly strychninne poisoning, but sometimes untreated rattlesnake bites. These people never bothered me, and I found them much better neighbors than most places I’ve lived. I never felt any desire to join the congregation, though……