I love all these stories! I'd love to take my snake to my church someday and perhaps open peoples' eyes a bit. Once I was told by a leader of a Bible study that I could not be a Christian if I owned a snake, and that furthermore, I was stupid for owning a snake because it would eventually bite and kill me.

I have a ten-month-old (at that time, three-month-old) ball python. If she managed to kill me, that'd be quite a surprise. As for the idea that I can't be a Christian if I have a snake - well, that's quite a surprise to me too, seeing as the last time I checked, I had a snake and was still a Christian.