Yes, in my land we worship snakes

Living in a country like the US where many cultures meet, one often gets asked about one's culture, religion and traditions. The festival of 'Naag Panchami', which we celebrated recently, made me recall an incident when one of my Indian friends was once asked by an American colleague if we really worshiped animals like cows and snakes. Well, I would with pride have answered, “yes”.
Cows that give us milk for food and cowdung for manure and oxen that plough fields and pull carts are certainly worthy of worship. And true, I do not like or endorse the modern twisted custom of trying to make captive snakes drink milk for 'Naag Panchami'. But traditionally, this is a simple festival. People worship images of snakes and pray that their families be safeguarded from the danger of snakebites. Praying to any being at heart, I find nothing wrong with.
In fact, I am proud of our religion for making us see divinity not only in idols but also in living beings. In fact, the doctrine of our religion urges us to have 'sama drishti' meaning unbiased vision toward all beings. But as a great saint already pointed out, “'beholding all beings as equal does not imply behaving the same way with them. Just as you are a manifestation of the Lord, so is a tiger. But we do not treat both alike.”
Each creature in the world is unique and this uniqueness we must understand and respect. It would be a very monotonous world indeed where all creatures were the same. The wide variety in the way life manifests through various forms is in itself a wonder to behold. Our culture not only accepts this variety but also celebrates it.
So, it is wonderful to have festivals like 'Naag Panchami' to remind us to respect the presence of all beings, however different to us they might be.