Didn’t Get Anything From The Tree Of Knowledge

(My family is Mormon and lives near Palmyra, NY, where Mormonism was founded when Joseph Smith prayed in a grove of trees near his house. This grove of trees is called in Mormonism “The Sacred Grove,” and bears a lot of religious significance to Mormons. The grove and the land are now owned by the Mormon Church, and a lot of tourists (Mormon and non-Mormon) come visit it. My younger brother, a teenager, works as the groundskeeper for the farm, grove, and a few other nearby sites of religious significance to Mormons. He gets a radio call from one of the missionaries that act as tour guides that there is a guest who’d like to speak to him.)

Brother: “What can I help you with?”

Guest: “Are you the groundskeeper?”

Brother: “Yes.”

Guest: “I have a complaint.”

Brother: “I’m sorry to hear that. What’s wrong?”

Guest: “I was out in the Sacred Grove, and there are SNAKES out there!”

Brother: “Yes. We try to keep the grove as much like it was when Joseph Smith prayed in 1820 so that anyone who would like can commune with God. That’s why, other than trails and a few benches, there is nothing unnatural in there.”

Guest: “But there are snakes!”

Brother: “Yes, there are snakes.”

Guest: “Get rid of them.”

Brother: “It is nearly 100 acres of wild, upstate NY forest. There are snakes in there. There is also poison ivy. That’s why, other than the established clearing, you stay on the path.”

Guest: “But there are SNAKES!”

Brother: “There are snakes. They aren’t poisonous, and they’re not hurting anyone. They are in their natural habitat. There were snakes when Joseph Smith prayed. There’s nothing I can do about it. I’m sorry it upsets you. By all reports there was a snake in the Garden of Eden, too.”

Guest: *wandering away* “It’s just so inappropriate!”