These people would live a lot longer if they could just come to terms with the fact that the word “THEY”  in Mark 16:18 refers to the APOSTLES and believers in the Apostolic age.

Mark 16:18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

It was “they” who had the miraculous gifts.  There are no APOSTLES today, so if you are daft enough to take up dangerous snakes and enrage them you do so at your own peril.

Another thing, whenever you see a Crucifix or a so-called “Cross” on or in a “Church” building, you can be sure that particular so-called “Church” is far removed from Biblical truth and it is not the true Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 All of this crazy stuff helps to DEMONISE, the people who are referred to as HILLBILLIES.

Many of the modern-day people of the Appalachians had their origins in N.Ireland. They are commonly known as the Ulster/Scots or the Scots/Irish.