Tatoos Mainstream

[NightMgr]

I've seen a girl with a tattoo that said only "Leviticus 19:28."

It didn't quote the scripture, but left it for you to look it up.

[joe]

I can hear God saying, "I will strike my hand down upon you if you have a flower tattoo on your body, but don't worry about that body and blood stuff."

I don't promote tattoos.

[joe]

On a Catholic forum, here is a question from one person regarding getting an ear pierced and the response from a priest that I respect.

Is it wrong to get your ears pierced? I know it says somewhere in the bible that you should not mark your body. My mother has always thought that this included piercing your ears. However so many good catholics I know have their ears pierced and they don't believe there is anything wrong with it. I would appreciate any advice on this matter!

You're probably referring to Leviticus 19:28, "You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh on account of the dead or tattoo any marks upon you: I am the Lord." What is forbidden here is a practice associated with heathen beliefs, as the context indicates. Since pierced ears are not associated with heathen beliefs in our culture, there is nothing morally wrong with the practice. If cutting the flesh were condemned outright, then surgery would be forbidden, which it never has been by the Church.

[speaktothesky]

Nice, painting your body has become as pointless and coloring your hair now.

[joe]

David said:

My biggest problem on this front currently is Josh Hamilton. Outfielder for the Texas Rangers. He has a history of drug abuse. You would think the last thing he would want is to cover himself with tattoos. He's also a Christian. Now, this is controversial

If I remember his story correctly, Hamilton got his tattoo's before becoming a Christian. Now, he regrets it. I guess if a person is an "Evangelical" who apparently takes the Bible literally and with no context, I can understand the shame and regret. However, how does an "Evangelical" reconcile the pierced ears and not cutting yourself intentionally?

[speaktothesky]

I think "technically" a pierce is different than a cut. Doing my best FTC here.

[joe]

I agree. We are talking literally, not technically.

[Marti]

I am a nurse and I see people of all ages with tatoos and piercings in every place imaginable. When I am assessing a patient, I sometimes ask folks about their tatoos- what they represent to them, when they got them, how they feel about them now. Many of the men got them when they were young- alot of them while in the service. Alot of the women in mid life are getting them to make some kind of statement, or to show they are still young.
Some of them have their eyeliner tattooed on or their eyebrows or their lip color. That's a little unnerving- and it it very funny to see a 70 something lady with her face lift, tattooed make up and her breast implants- and the rest is of the body and skin is - well , plain old.
Of course, the risk for Hep C is huge as well as HIV and other needle born/fluid passed diseases. I don't believe you can donate blood if you have a tattoo. The piercings are mind blowing. I recently admitted a 66 y/o male who had his genitalia pierced. At first I thought he was kidding- but he wasn't. He also had nipple rings. Of course, the piercings have to be removed prior to MRI's and many patients find the removal painful. The piercings are a huge source of infection. Especially those tongue rings.

Its beyond me. But I know I have done some things in my life that were not smart. Fortunately, few have had real long term effects.
A tattoo may not be forever, but chances are it will be.

[speaktothesky]

When we raise kids to never accept responsibility and the have no consequences to their actions, it would seem to be expected those same kids/adults will do lots of stupid things....

[joe]

If we are going to judge people, according to Leviticus, regarding a tattoo, then we need to be consistent across the board when it comes to sex before marriage, divorce, etc. Like Marti said, people get them for all kinds of reasons and at different times of their life. Rarely, do any of them think about what the Bible says. Maybe, they don't know what the Bible says.

[NightMgr]

Originally Posted by joe

If I remember his story correctly, Hamilton got his tattoo's before becoming a Christian. Now, he regrets it. I guess if a person is an "Evangelical" who apparently takes the Bible literally and with no context, I can understand the shame and regret. However, how does an "Evangelical" reconcile the pierced ears and not cutting yourself intentionally?

I've noticed when meeting my friends' Christian groups a number of younger men who are heavily tattooed. Up and down arms and legs, whole murals across their bodies, in fact. Often the men got them prior to conversion and don't advocate getting new ones, but some do and get religiously themed ones now to complement the old ones and change them to more Christian themed displays.

But, I have especially noticed that these young men seem particularly popular with the young Christian ladies. From my observation, those who were formerly bad boys are more popular than those who attempted to be good from the start, at least as dating material.

[NightMgr]

Originally Posted by Marti

I am a nurse and I see people of all ages with tatoos and piercings in every place imaginable.

Once when working on a computer in an ob/gyn office, I heard a nurse exclaim as she left an exam room, "Is there anything this girl DOESN'T have pierced?!"

Not that I dawdled finishing my work, but I was there to see this patient leave the exam room, and I swear she was dressed like one of those FDLS mothers. Skirt to the floor, long sleeves with lace at the wrists and neck.

It was always a little weird to work on the computer at the main reception desks because people would come and present their issues to you thinking you were medical staff. I finally learned to just say "Of course; let me get you a nurse." That was less embarassing to the patient than "I'm just here to work on the computer." But, less entertaining than the things I THOUGHT of saying!

[speaktothesky]

I just wonder what they were thinking.

[David]

For Jews, tattoo yearning pits pride against faith

By ANDREW ABRAMSON

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Sunday, July 27, 2008

BOCA RATON — Mo Brenner is taking Jewish pride to a new and controversial level.

The 27-year-old Boca Raton tattoo artist boasts a large Star of David on his upper right arm engraved with Abram, his Hebrew name.








He'll gladly sketch Hebrew writing and Jewish stars on his clients at Boca Body Art, because what could possibly be a better way to celebrate religion than with a shrine that will last a lifetime?

"A tattoo should really mean something to you," Brenner said. "Mine represents my religion and family."

With the tattoo phenomenon continuing to explode - 40 percent of people between the ages of 26 to 40 have at least one tattoo, according to the Pew Research Center - some Jews don't want to be left out.

But it's a contradiction for a religion that most believe forbids tattoos. Perhaps even more stinging, millions of Jews were forcibly tattooed during the Holocaust.

"I was always taught that nice Jewish people didn't do that," said 40-year-old Boca resident Amy Lubetkin. "When I think of tattoos, I think of the Holocaust and how tattooing of all these Jewish people was another way to take away their identity, take away from who they were."

Bruce Ratoff, a 55-year-old Boca resident, considers himself an only moderately observant Jew, yet there are certain lines he refuses to cross.

"Tattoos are a permanent mutilation and thus a direct violation of Jewish law," Ratoff said. "The Nazis were aware of this - it was a deliberate desecration when they tattooed concentration camp inmates. Why then should we deliberately choose to desecrate ourselves? I find this trend most disturbing."

Strangely enough, this is one of the reasons that younger Jews, like 18-year-old Alexis Engelhardt of West Palm Beach, are heading to tattoo parlors.

Engelhardt's grandmother was a Holocaust survivor, so he considered having "remember" tattooed on his forearm in Hebrew.

Ultimately he decided against it because he didn't want such a visible tattoo to hurt his chances at future employment. Instead, he modified a common tattoo of surfers - nautical stars at the front of the hips - using two Jewish stars.

"My parents were kind of upset when they found out, and so was my grandma, but it isn't that big of a deal," Engelhardt said. "I think you should take religion as more of a guideline instead of just rules saying this is how you should live. I think banning tattoos is a little bit ancient, and we're kind of past that."

Tattoo artist Brenner, the great-grandson of Jews caught up in the Holocaust, is thinking about adding yellow coloring to the Star of David on his arm.

Jewish people were forced to wear yellow stars and badges in Nazi Germany.

"I want to represent what they went through," Brenner said.

It's an argument that puzzles orthodox Rabbi Shlomo Uminer of the Chabad Jewish Center of Martin and St. Lucie Counties.

"That memory is not a good memory," Uminer said. "The memory of the Holocaust, that terrible act of barbarism that happened while the whole world watched and was quiet, is not something of remembrance. We shouldn't forget, but if you want to be clear that you're Jewish, wear a yarmulke (the traditional Jewish skullcap) on your head.

"How can you care about your religion when you disobey it (by getting a tattoo)? It just doesn't work."

Anthony Fratello, the Reform rabbi of Temple Shaarei Shalom in Boynton Beach, said he has very mixed emotions about tattoos on Jewish people.

He believes that the biblical text barring tattoos is "a bit vague" and that the real stigma these days stems from the Holocaust.

He's heard of people tattooing exact replicas of the numbers that were tattooed on the forearms of their relatives in concentration camps.

"There are those who see it as a way to reconnect with people that perished in the Holocaust, and I can see both sides of the argument," Fratello said.

However, he believes there is something sacred about keeping the body unmarked.

"I think there's a great deal that we can learn from the traditional perspective to say that it's your body, and God gave it you to take care of," Fratello said.

Many Jews have been reluctant to get tattoos because of a long-standing belief that the deceased can't be buried in Jewish cemeteries if they are tattooed.

However, even Orthodox rabbis like Uminer say that's a myth.

The Star of David of the Palm Beaches cemetery in West Palm Beach has no policy regarding tattoos, and Mount Sinai Memorial Park - an Orthodox cemetery in Miami - doesn't have its employees view the body before it is buried.

Once Ann Pardes of Boca Raton learned that prohibiting tattooed Jews from being buried was "just an old wives' tale," she permitted her son to get a tattoo in remembrance of his grandmother.

"I couldn't say no," Pardes said. "I thought it was for a very good reason, and it's a beautiful tattoo in memory of my mom. I'm even considering getting one myself."

Still, don't expect all Jewish people to go against a tattoo-forbidding mantra passed on for thousands of years.

"Every place I look, every movie star, every rock star, every athlete has tattoos, so I'm not surprised at this trend," Lubetkin said. "But I'm still going to instill in my children that Jewish people don't get tattoos. When my son was as young as 4 and he'd see somebody with a tattoo, he'd say, 'Mommy, that person's not Jewish.'"



Find this article at:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localne...toos_0728.html

[David]

Hate tatoos. Especially on women. But, I am a judgmental sexist.

Rethinking the ink: Laser tattoo removal gains popularity

SOURCE

[toobdoow]

Originally Posted by David

Hate tatoos. Especially on women. But, I am a judgmental sexist.
[b]
...

So don't get one.

Let me ask you something:

If someone gets a tattoo, or wears plaid golf pants, or drives a particular car you wouldn't be caught dead in and it does you no harm, why even bother wasting any emotion on it?

Whole bunch of people in the world and we're all different...tattoos, piercings, clothing styles, hair styles, whatever, all reflect that individuality, though I wonder about the mental health of those with extreme piercings, seems to me, everyone is free to do what they wish as long as it doesn't adversely affect me

Already have enough people thinking they know what's best for everyone else without me adding to it or at least minimizing my involvement in that meme.

[Orin]

Maori facial tattoos are pretty wicked.

[Bemused]

Originally Posted by David

Hate tatoos. Especially on women. But, I am a judgmental sexist.

Nope. Just a dinosaur.

Things change. Culture changes. Mores change.

This is why we die... because we cannot tolerate them changes that come along, pushed by the young.

Tatoos, gay marriage, salt and pepper relationships, evolution of theology into the universal redemption model....

Too bad none of us will be able to look down from heaven to observe how the world has changed since our departure.

.

[David]

Shocked? Not.

Tattoos, Piercings And More Alcohol Drinking Linked - Are You Surprised?

SOURCE

[GeronL]

I can safely dock about 20 IQ points off anyone with a visible tatoo and 30 off anyone with a nose peircing.