Faith based tattoo question

[RdJ]

2 minutes ago, farouk said:

@Renskedejonge Well.........I guess your assumptions are different. (Which is fine.)

These quotes from the Bible Belt in North America seem to show that it's almost standard practice:

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source: reddit

 

forums dot thewelltrainedmind dot com

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(Does this surprise you that in the Bible Belt, once one reaches a certain age, it seems to be almost standard practice?)

It may also be my age. Younger people maybe get them more. Just the people I know don't have a tattoo, but you see it on tv and such.

[farouk]

13 minutes ago, Renskedejonge said:

It may also be my age. Younger people maybe get them more. Just the people I know don't have a tattoo, but you see it on tv and such.

@Renskedejonge Well, you may be right about the age aspect.

Some demographics - military, nursing - are heavily tattooed but this also may be as much about age as it is about being part of a particular sector of work.

Nursing as a demographic seems actually and rather evidently to have become almost 100% tattooed.

FYI:

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 Corgiverse RN

At this point- honestly it’s almost a requirement. Every single one of my coworkers is tattooed. reddit dot com

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Heart2Soul said:

....part of being in the military. Got to get your tattoo .. it is becoming a norm with health professionals...

christianityboard dot com

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Perhaps even more so than military personnel, an RN (Registered Nurse) without a tattoo seems to have become an unusual exception.

But then as you seem to suggest, it might be as much about age (??)

[farouk]

Thanks to all who voted so far in the poll.

NB: If you have not yet voted in the poll, please vote now.

[RdJ]

[farouk]

On 2/14/2024 at 12:49 AM, BK1110 said:

I can't read through all 26 pages of this thing, so forgive me if I repeat others.

I think the old Leviticus passage is Mosaic Law that is no longer binding. I think this means it is not an outright, definite sin, at least. More of a matter of conscience.

There are some things we should not do because they could affect our witness, even if they in-and-of-themselves are not sins. For example, if I were going to be a witness in the nation of Japan, where there is still a very strong negative cultural perception of tattoos due to their usage by the Japanese mafia (Yakuza), it could very much affect my ability to be a witness to those people to get a tattoo. To get one then would be unloving, as I would be placing my own desire for a tattoo above what is needed to show love to others in sharing the gospel as effectively as I can.

However, on the other side of things, I just recently read a passage I had not taken notice of before: "Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek." (Acts 16:1-3)

Look at that! Paul himself, the one who openly rebuked Peter when Peter was wavering towards the Jews who were insisting on circumcision, actually had Timothy circumcised! Despite being the one who most vehemently opposed the circumcision crowd, and went to great lengths in his teachings and letters to tell people that they were no longer under that commandments. Why? He did it specifically to remove anything that could have caused the Jews to reject them off-hand. He actually had Timothy undergo a permanent, painful, bloody modification to his body, even though it was not required, for the sake of making sure Timothy could reach the people he would be witnessing to. Could I see a Christian who is going to be witnessing to a certain people group, whether a tribe in some jungle or members of some subculture, who think tattoos are great, getting a tattoo to help them reach out to those folks with the gospel? Hmmmmm..............

I think people considering tattoos should think/pray long and hard about their motivations.

Thank-you for the considered comment, @BK1110 Yes, I myself had already thought about the (at least indirect) comparison between Paul and Timothy in Acts 16 and the idea of some believers keen to use a faith based tattoo design as an opportunity for them to speak regularly to others about the Lord. I think the comparison is a fair talking point, whether or not individual believers actually decide to avail themselves of the opportunities that a tattoo parlor session may bring them.

Various young ppl with Bible verses tattooed with whom I have spoken seem to have received them as tools for witness opportunities. My wife and I talked to a young lady with the wording of John 3.16 tattooed on her wrist area - her favorite verse and mine also; and I can see her likely having glowed with quiet joy as she emerged from a parlor as a Christian woman newly inked up with it. Just as Timothy - not compelled but voluntarily - would have understood that more Jews would likely listen to his testimony if they knew that he was circumcised, so such a tattooed Christian young woman inked up with something clearly Bible based might have similar expectations of a respectful hearing or even of her Bible verse ink up becoming a silent testimony.

I reckon the rationale might be that if it's a widely observed cultural practice, then it might be used as a testimony opportunity among those who practice it. And it is indeed widely practised, FYI:

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Paula Castle took up tattooing after being made redundant from a sales job ..."I really did not want to do it. ...But I’m a bit of an all or nothing person so I said ‘yes’ and really pushed myself and I’ve not stopped...About 97% of my clients are female and that is universal across the board."

James McCarthy, Mirror dot co dot uk

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(I guess the quote would ring true?)

 

 

[farouk]

"Some of their friends have alot. I never even really thought about my daughter doing that because of her personality. She has her kids first initials on the insde of her wrist, just one letter on each one. Very small. A small one on on of her back shoulder. And one one the backside of her neck. all small."

@Anne2 Yes, what you said before about a tiny bit of wrist ink, etc. does show that it's so very widespread and done so widely by the most conservative of ppl.

Getting a tiny wrist ink-up is becoming a bit like ear piercing, I think.

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FYI:

Chellz84 said:

My husband has both his ears pierced. Where I live Hartford CT. It is extreamly common for a guy to have both his ears pierced. I've been working in the school system for 5yrs. And I can't tell you how many.. boys have both their ears pierced along with most Dads that come in.

forums dot thebump dot com

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I think it was you who commented also that a row of piercings up the ear is nice. Like, since - as the quote shows - so many men and boys have their ears pierced, having a row of small studs pierced along the ear can be widely considered a proper, established feminine enhancement, done by the most conservative of piercees.

Likewise a tiny bit of wrist ink, etc. - often in a family or faith theme - has I think become so widespread, an inking experience received by the most conservative of (first-time?) tattooees.

(It fits what you said.)

[farouk]

22 hours ago, Renskedejonge said:

@Renskedejonge Funny..............

It might be thought that ppl in uniform - as in those photos - don't tend to have tattoos, but actually they might indeed be under the uniform.

(You saw the quote which appeared to indicate that near 100% of nurses are tattooed - or so it seems.)

[farouk]

On 2/14/2024 at 1:58 PM, Renskedejonge said:

It may also be my age. Younger people maybe get them more.

@Renskedejonge PS: Here's an interesting story I read:

A Hollywood producer wanted to create a 1950s beach scene. He couldn't find enough young women without tattoos to hire as film extras for the beach scene representing an era when it was less widespread for women to receive tattoos. (Back then it was mainly male sailors, etc.)

But you can see how now that a lot of Christian young ppl want to receive Bible verse tattoos because among young ppl getting tattooed is in any case so widespread.

Edited February 15 by farouk

[farouk]

Hi @SavedOnebyGrace FYI............fairly recent poll started, above.............any wisdom?

[farouk]

On 2/14/2024 at 1:58 PM, Renskedejonge said:

 Just the people I know don't have a tattoo

@Renskedejonge Family has a lot to do with it also. Mothers and daughters; fathers and sons; daughters imitating their mothers; sons imitating their fathers, and so forth.

(I guess your parents never got inked.)