Summary Of Salvation On Sand Mountain

In Salvation on Sand Mountain, Dennis Covington centers not on race but religion as a key to understanding the South’s identity, and he takes great pains to present a fair and sympathetic perspective of snake handlers and rural southerners alike. Covington was first intrigued to this culture by covering a trial by the Scottsboro, Alabama, trial of Reverend Glen Summerford who being charge with attempting to murder his wife with the same rattlesnakes used in the services of his church. After the court had found Glen Summerford guilty and sent him to serve ninety years in prison. Covington, hearing and viewing the court document from the trail, the argument of the defense team and the convicted was not that of murder, but a practice of religious

During the court proceeding, Covington met fellow members of that particular church and got acquainted with many of them and was invited to attend. Covington intrigued as a person and as a writer and wanting to expand his knowledge of the South, also, “wonder if there was still a South at all” (Covington, 1995). During this time, Covington he has known a few snake handler, and one particular snake handler by the name Brother Bob Stanley gave him more insight to the world of the South. He went on to describe that the south, although, surrounded by metropolis urban resisted change and kept their identity and culture by: religions, moral value and practice. As Bob exclaim, “we’re as peculiar a people now as we ever were, and the fact that our culture is under assault has forced us to become even more peculiar than we were before. He further explained how snake handling came about telling to Covington “snake handling, for instance, didn’t originate back in the hills somewhere. It started when people came down from the hills to discover they were surrounded by a hostile and spiritually deal culture” (Covington, 1995). This further intrigued Covington to seek the culture and religion in the

For example, Covington stated that “he wanted to experience more” (Covington, 1995) because the services at The Church of Jesus with Signs Following always seemed to leave Covington wondering about what was going to happen next. As time progress, Covington began to attend more sermon and even started to handle the serpent himself. Once he got the fear of handling poisonious snake out the window, he started to handle more and attended more sermon. Once that happen, his journey from identity has turned full circle and now become a spiritual journey. The snake handling had pulled him, not only did the snake, but rather the people or the community and the religious belief (Holy spirit). This swept him before he knew. He was part of the community and that, he even preached, dance, and aid them when needed. As time progress, he even took his family along for the ride for the journey. What took me surprise was that, Covington’s daughter, Ashley, also had an influence on Covington becoming more interested in the snake handling ritual. She was the one person that he thought would never like an act such as snake handling. Her reaction to the services startled him. “The raw hillbilly music had been imprinted on her genes, like something deep within her she was remembering” (Covington,