Well I always respond to the bible issue by asking if they are also afraid of Mom and Apple Pie, since a woman and an apple were also involved...why just hate the snake LOL.

Humans always fear what they don't know well to some extent. Even if you explain to them the fact that their yappy lap dog is a far bigger risk to their small kids, they still tend to think my snakes are the greater risk. Silly really but that's folks and all you can do is try to educate the ones with minds open to it.