I have that same rule in my house about religion and politics. Those two topics always tend to get ugly-and loud. And so that I don't risk offending anyone, this is all I have to say about this discussion.

That's EXACTLY my view too! Well-said Ssativa!

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Andrea

I have a hard time excepting that anyone would consider a creature that has not much more than a brain stem, could be viewed as good or evil. Snakes are instinct driven to survive, nothing more nothing less. Associating them with good or evil, attributing them with emotions or any other human trait is simply, well ridiculus.

Craig

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Gems of the Rainforest

Hello,

People do and believe what they have been taught. If you are brought up in an environment where snakes are deemed "evil" and "sneaky", you will grow to believe that as the truth.

Everyone in the world, even those sharing the same religions, interpret the readings from their biblical literature differently. No one is right or wrong, it is just a mind set.

The only way to change a mind set is through education. Educating our children to understand that all animals have a purpose in our ecosystem and none of them, except humans, have the ability to determine right from wrong in the capacity that we do. It's physically impossible for an animal that doesn't have the ability to process information like we do to be "evil". They would first be required to have the capacity to understand right from wrong and continuously do the "wrong" thing. Snakes just aren't there. lol

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Very well said rich..

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brazilian rainbow boa--- Pandora
Cali King---Oreo

Life is to short to worry about your mistake's as long as you learn from them.

I am a Roman Catholic and also an avid reptile lover. I go to church each week and have taught religion to high school kids in our parish for 12 years. I am also not a believer in evolution...I feel that any quick study of these animals prove that they are too complex and amazing to be dismissed by an evolution theory. Natural selection and "survival of the fittest" obviously played a role in the creatures in our world today, but that's as far as I go with the idea. Most people think my interest in reptiles is "weird", but it's always a great conversation starter and people ususally end up saying, "Wow, I never knew that!" after discussing a particular reptile. I have found that there are some biases, however, between snakes and lizards. People don't seem as freaked out by lizards as they are when you say you have a snake. My paternal grandmother, who lived with us and was a very religious woman, felt snakes were evil due to the Genesis reading refered to earlier. I often thank my mother for introducing me to frogs, toads, lizards and snakes, as she found them fascinating and shared her interest with me early on. She always told me that my grandmother was entitled to her opinion, but that every creature God created served a purpose and that no animal, especially a snake, could be "evil". In my discussions with people who dislike snakes, I have found that most just dislike them as they find them "creepy" as opposed to "evil". Perhaps it was people of my grandmother's generation who were not as open minded, or perhaps certain religions or certain cultures in the world have negative views on snakes, which is a shame!

My great grandmother used to catch venomous snakes and milk them for the old west show "wild bill" so I guess it's in my genetics to love them.

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http://dragcave.net/user/manhirwen

Thanks for all the posts guys. I'm glad my guess was wrong and found out there's a lot of open minded people on this site and not just about snakes. Thanks for not getting me in trouble by arguing to lol!

LOL You are going to find that this is not your run of the mill forum! The flaming and bashing that happens on so many others is not going to happen here. We have great people for members!

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

I've noticed I went on one other forum and it's filled with children who are obsessed with making fun of how others look yet would flip if you said anything bad about snakes. Go figure?