MULDER: Well, it certainly would appear that way but the question is "how?" There's no physical evidence at all-- no tire tracks, no footprints. I can't see how anyone could have accomplished this. And then you got to ask yourself "why?" Why would anybody use poisonous snakes as a murder weapon?

SCULLY: Maybe it's symbolic. I mean, serpents and religion have gone hand in hand. They've represented the temptation of Eve-- Original Sin. They've been feared and hated throughout history as they've been thought to embody Satan-- to serve Evil itself.

MULDER: Maybe these ones actually do.

SCULLY: These particular serpents actually were serving Evil? Are you going to type that on our travel request?

MULDER: Mmm ... No. But at the very least this case does seem to center around religion ... and you're not the only one to think that by the way.

SCULLY: Snake handling. I didn't learn that in catechism class.

MULDER: That's funny. I knew a couple of Catholic schoolgirls who were expert at it.

SCULLY: Rattlesnakes and medieval visions of damnation. Well, I for one, feel a whole lot closer to God.

MULDER: I don't know, Scully. When you... when you get right down to it is snake handling any harder to buy into than communion wafers or transubstantiation...?

SCULLY: Or believing in flying saucers, for that matter.

MULDER: I'm just saying that - that your faith and O'Connor's seem to be based on the same book.

REVEREND O'CONNOR: Our God is a fearsome God.

MAN: Amen!

REVEREND O'CONNOR: He demands our very lives! Revelations Three, the 16th verse. "'Tis better to be hot or cold than lukewarm." God says, if you're lukewarm He will vomit you out of His mouth.

CONGREGATION: Praise God!

REVEREND O'CONNOR: Yes! Did you hear what I said?!

CONGREGATION: Praise God! Yes!

REVEREND O'CONNOR: God hates the lukewarm!

SCULLY: Though I don't understand it, O'Connor's church exerts a strong pull on these people.

MULDER: It's not so hard to understand. It's a culture with a very well-defined set of rules.

SCULLY: It's an intolerant culture, Mulder.

MULDER: I don't know, Scully. Sometimes a little intolerance can be a welcome thing. Clear-cut right and wrong, black and white, no shades of gray. You know, in a society where hard and fast rules are harder and harder to come by, I think some people would appreciate that.

SCULLY: You're saying that you, Fox Mulder, would welcome someone telling you what to believe?

MULDER: I'm just saying that somebody offering you all the answers... could be a very powerful thing.

REVEREND MACKEY: Gracie, I'd like to ask you to reconsider.

GRACIE: No. This is what he'd want.

REVEREND MACKEY: He may die without medical treatment.

GRACIE: I've seen him bit a dozen times. He always said that it was up to God whether he lives or dies. Said it was a worse sin not to trust God.

REVEREND MACKEY: There are many ways to trust God, Gracie. One of them is to trust in the miracles of doctors and medicine.

REVEREND MACKEY: Are you a righteous man, Agent Mulder?

MULDER: Stay where you are.

REVEREND MACKEY: It's just a simple question. Most people believe they're on the side of angels. But are they?

MULDER: If this was some kind of test looks like I failed.

SCULLY: I'd say if it was, you passed with flying colors. You're alive, aren't you?

MULDER: Proud and fancy-free.