Serpent-handling sects are often portrayed in the media as bizarre Southern cults whose members engage in dangerous primitive rituals. The fact that a religious ritual identified as existing outside the normative boundaries of Christianity, and perhaps religion in general, defines this Christian tradition marks serpent-handling sects as abnormal or ‘other’. Consequently, scholars investigating why these Christians handle poisonous snakes during religious services must address the boundary between ‘abnormal’ and ‘normal’ religion, the ‘norm’ and the ‘other’. This essay surveys the multi-disciplinary literature on serpent-handling sects with a particular eye toward the ways scholars both negotiate and perpetuate this boundary.

中文翻译：

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阿巴拉契亚的“其他”：研究蛇处理宗派的学术方法

毒蛇教派经常在媒体上被描绘成奇怪的南方邪教，其成员从事危险的原始仪式。被确定为存在于基督教规范边界之外的宗教仪式，甚至可能是广义上的宗教，定义了这一基督教传统，这一事实将处理蛇教派视为异常或“其他”。因此，学者们研究了为什么这些基督徒在礼拜期间处理毒蛇，必须解决“异常”和“正常”宗教，“规范”和“其他”宗教之间的界限。本文对蛇处理教派的多学科文献进行了调查，特别着眼于学者们如何协商和延续这一边界。