Posted on 11/01/2013 8:21:51 AM PDT by DouglasKC
The Truth about Tattoos
I had written a hub earlier on 'The Dangers of Tattoos' - which was from purely a medical point of view. The present article is more comprehensive, and should enlighten the open-minded reader about the 'dark truths' behind tattoos.
Historical Aspect
History shows that tattoos have always been associated with paganism, shamanism, heathen (Baal worship), occult mysticism and demonism. The tattoo has never been associated with Christians, until the present decadent religious times. Wherever the Christian faith made its entrance, the tattoo made its exit.
Tattoos where associated with shamans or magic-men (witch-doctors). A shaman is an intermediary between the natural and the supernatural worlds, who is in direct contact with spirits who are invariably evil. Tattooing was often a magical rite, linked to scarification and blood-letting, and the tattooing process involved complex rituals and taboos, known only to the shaman and his tribe. In tattooing the skin is punctured and the blood is drawn. Licking the blood during tattoo operations is not unknown. The puncturing was considered the ‘opening of inlets for evil to enter’. Tattoos were therefore channels for demonic possession. Even today, certain tattoo artists burn incense and light candles during tattoo operations, while others allow ‘demons to guide the tattoo needle over the client’s body’.
Tattoos have always reflected a note of unabashed rebellion and marked deviancy. Hence tattoos were used to mark criminals, adulterers, traitors, deserters, the deviant and the outcast. Even the ancient Greeks and Romans did not tattoo themselves, but they branded slaves and criminals with tattoos. The Latin word for ‘tattoo’ is ‘stigma’ – which is a distinguishing mark cut into the flesh of a slave or a criminal, and was considered a mark of disgrace or reproach. By the early 1900s public opinion against tattoos was so strong that tattooed persons were considered freaks and found mostly in sideshows and circuses.
The Psychological Aspect
It has been observed that criminals, drug addicts, sex perverts and social outlaws are the overwhelming majority of the tattooed. Hard rock bands sport sick and lewd tattoos. Gangs encourage tattoos to instill a sense of ‘belonging’. Tattoos carry a streak of aggression and anti-establishmentarianism and are subversive of morality. Death (inclusive of skulls, snakes, demons, flames) and pornography (lewd pictures, nude figures) are popular themes of tattoos. Psychologists have considered tattoos to be marks of personality disorder which is manifested later in criminal behavior. Low self-esteem, lack of self-control, sadomasochism, bondage, fetishism, bisexuality, antisocial personality, mania and bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia – are reflected in self-inflicted multiple tattoos. Studies have linked tattoos to homosexuality, lesbianism and gross sexual perversion.
Tattooed youth are more likely to engage in sexual intercourse, take to alcohol and drugs, and exhibit violent behavior, and drop out of high school – by as much as 4 times compared to non-tattooed youth.
The Christian Aspect
Carnal Christians side-step the injuction in Leviticus 19;28 by arguing that the commandment is for Old Testament Israel and not for New Testament Christians. Does that mean that bestiality and child sacrifice which are forbidden in Leviticus are for Old Testament Israel and not for New Testament Christians? The New Testament does not have to spell out all sins. Smoking, for instance, is not mentioned in the Bible anywhere; but does it mean that smoking is not a vice or sin?
Reputed Bible scholars and commentators have made in clear that the moral commandments in Leviticus are for all time and not just for Israel in the Old Testament age. Leviticus 19:28 says, ‘You shall not make any cutting in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you. I am the LORD.’ On this Matthew Henry, Merrill Unger and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown have made it amply clear that tattoos are forbidden by God. It is to be noted that while ‘cuttings’ are qualified by the phrase ‘for the dead’, ‘marks’ (or tattoos) have no such qualification. Which means that all tattoos (Christian and otherwise) are evil in God’s eyes.
One of the arguments made by carnal Christians is that Lev 19.27 forbids haircuts. What Leviticus 19.27 is talking about is ‘rounding the corners of your head’ and ‘marring the corners of your beard’. These were heathen practices. One such practice was to cut the hair so that the head resembled a celestial globe. It is called a ‘tonsure’, a practice of heathens to honor their gods. The cutting of the flesh was demonstrated by the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. It is not to be forgotten that the demon-possessed man in Mark 5 was in the habit of cutting himself with stones. Cutting and masochistic self-flagellation is also practiced by Muslims during their festival of Muharram. In short, the injunctions in Lev 19:26-28 are a strong condemnation of heathen practices – witchcraft, astrology, cutting, tattooing, tonsures, etc.
In 1 Samuel 15:23 we are told that ‘rebellion is like the sin of witchcraft’. Tattoos sported by today’s youth have been the mark of rebellion and hatred of authority (besides, rejection of all moral values). In God’s eyes, the sin of tattooing is like witch-craft. We have already seen the origins of tattoos in witch-craft and shamanism. It remains to be researched whether this ‘witch-craft’ has also led to widespread demon-possession. No, tattoos are not ‘body decoration’; they have nothing to do with fashion and beauty; but rather they are sinister signs of moral decay and infiltration by evil spirits into modern society.
Could your tattoo give you cancer? Scientists fear toxins from ink could enter blood and accumulate in your major organs
I always thought using your body as a sticky note was silly and disrespectful of your God given body, perhaps even a sin for that disrespect.
Before the tattoo is on the body it’s in the mind. Tattoos are mere physical manifestations of what’s in the head....
Honestly, I cannot understand how Christ followers can tattoo themselves. Yes, I understand those who receive Christ post tattoo, but getting a tattoo after receiving Christ always perplexed and bothered me.
Thank you for this. Tattooes are simply insane. As mentioned above they are prohibited in the Bible. It is nothing more than defacing a human body with permanent graffiti. No. I don’t favor outlawing them. But I do remember back in the day, you only saw them on truckers and sailors. Now-—so many women have them. I really don’t get it. I don’t understand why people are going out of their way to make themselves look so unattractive. I don’t know how people expect to find decent jobs covered from head to toe with tattooes and body piercings. I see people in the supermarket paying with Food Stamps. They found the money to pay for their tattooes but they cannot find the money to pay for their food. A few months ago we went to water park. It seemed as though nearly 70 to 80% of the people there had tattooes. Getting a tattoo is not like getting a bad haircut. You are STUCK with it and removing them is no easy procedure. This is insane. I saw a report the other day that 90 million working age Americans are not currently employed. We are truly descending into hell.
I’ve always been amazed by peopole who can’t get enough ink injected under their skin, yet cringe at the thought of drinking tap water.
The essay makes some good points in general, but the “The Psychological Aspect” section is just waaaaaaaaaaay over the top.
Just shake his hand and say 'God Bless'.
Meh…I could take them or leave them, but I know many young women who will be desperately seeking to scrub them off by age fifty. Tats don’t age well. For a glimpse of the future, they should have taken a look at some of my older friends tats. These guys were old school, W.W. II and Korea combat vets sporting traditional blue ink “flash” tats of swallows, Marine globe and anchor, hearts, etc. All now just a smeared skin stains.
Religion and medical issues aside, they depict low class.
Let's see if Geron can out do his pic fest yesterday......
Fat Tat butts?
When I put pictures on my wall, I don’t coat the back of them with epoxy and drive screws through the frame of the picture directly into the studs.
If permanent pictures on the walls of your home aren’t a good idea, then what about permanent pictures on your body?
I’ve tried to find his previous article, “The Dangers of Tattoos” but was unable to do so. Anyone know where it is?
I thought the article was mostly BS. All that crap about shamans and the devil. Mostly horse dung to me.
Tattoos are just plain ugly and will get uglier as the colors leave. Why anyone would want to go into old age with a blue colored arm is crazy to me.
Certainly they are probably a sign of anti-establishmentarianism and also a sign to parents that this child needs work. They need something, and it isn’t more tattoos.
The old adage was if your friend jumped off a cliff would you do it too, works here , only they do jump off that cliff. Kids today pay way too much attention to their peers and don’t think for themselves.I guess they learn that in school to.
I’ve had a small tattoo of a spider on my left forearm since 1971 (I was 19) and yet somehow I’m not a criminal or drug addict. In fact, I retired at age 53 with over a million in retirement funds - my homes, cars and boats are paid for by the sweat of my brow and nobody else. Don’t paint with such a broad brush - or needle.
It’s way too early for me.
I think we’ve had face tat threads before though.
Into the spine? are you kidding the needle barley breaks three layers of epidermis.
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