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[Magpie]

Originally Posted by pythoness

Snakes were portrayed as evil by the modern dominating religion ie. eve and the serpent.
before that time snakes were considered great oracles of the delphians and grecian beliefs. in egypt they were considered the greatest of healers and their venom was harvested for medicine there over 5 thousand years bc.

people have been afraid of snakes evil for over 2000 years, and thats alot of social conditioning to overcome for joe public.
also the fact that some of them are venomous and can kill you heheh

Not starting a religious war, merely stating historical evidence

Come of the grass...
Most tribal people have a fear of snakes in every day life, even if they are portrayed as gods or forces of good in their legends.
Think about it... people are afraid of sharks? Is that religions fault too?
People are afraid of snakes because they do not understand them. All they know is that snakes can be deadly (from what they are told, most snakes are deadly). Snakes can be around and you won't know it, they're small and they hide and if you tread on a snake, good chance it will bite you.
That is why they fear them and stories of snakes chasing people / tractors don't help.