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.
Love that my Jewish children can’t go out and tattoo up, but why didn’t Gd put in something against piercings??
I think this is a weak excuse to act as the pagans act, or stems from the self conscious fear of being separate and different.
Went to a music fest over the summer and I could not believe the number of people young and middle-aged, men and women, with tattoos. I was stunned. How are we any different? Why do we yearn to resemble non-Christians.
I came away from that music fest sad for what might be emblematic of the church today.
I believe when preaching to the Gentiles, St. Paul said it was not mandatory for them to comply certain Jewish customs relating to dietary laws and circumcision. That said, however, I don’t think it means we should dismiss the Old Testament in its entirety. There is still good advice to be found there IMHO.
No... way. You have got to be kidding me. IMO, that is absolutely iconic of today’s culture.
There’s a tattoo parlor not from here. Though I can’t call business brisk when I drive by, there are certainly a number of people who work there. It’s not tucked away on some city street but is a fairly nice building by a lake. I’ve often wondered how they operate. To me, the tattoo fad has probably run its course though of course, the business will continue.
Before going to bed each night, the Boogie man asks his mom to check the closet for U.S. Marines.
“Why are people always judging me? Never giving me a chance? Never seeing the real person?”
We do not judge the Christianity of someone by their outsides. I thought a Christian might recognize that thought.
I guess I wasn’t entirely clear. You don’t know if that young man with the tattoo was saved last night by Christ or last year. You don’t know if that grandma with saggy boobs and the saggy heart tattooed on them is not a saved sinner just like me. Of course I am judged all the time by my appearance - but you can’t see my heart. I’m glad Jesus does.
Oh, and BTW I don’t have a tattoo, I just have long waist-length curly gray hair. It happens to be what God gave me and I wear it proudly, but some of the more ‘worldy’ among us just can’t help themselves. They think it is more “Christlike” that I cut, curl, and dye my hair - it is more culturally acceptable.
epidurals are given where?
Are you talking tramp stamps?
Uh, 'stigma' is Greek. Seems the author isn't all that bright.
When I see someone with tats all over them I read that as them saying “I am a real loser, look at me, look at me now!”
The generalization is correct, people’s respect for a person, especially a male, drops when they see him anchored by a old timey cigarette addiction.
It is especially noticeable if one lives in an upscale region like the Southern California coast where smoking is pretty rare, and then visits an area of low education.
Today, smoking is a habit that the poor and uneducated practice because they can’t help themselves, smoking is rare among the educated.
No, you were not clear. Your post was a blanket statement rejecting judging others by their appearance. That, of course, is foolhardy, and it piqued me to reply.
But now that you've elaborated, I find myself in complete agreement with you.
Thanks for your post (but I always knew what you meant). ;^}
That is one of the stupidest remarks I have ever seen.
BTW, the upscale region of SC is bankrupt.
” Plus I see these giant, young fat chicks covering themselves with them.
Have they just given up? Accepted that obesity is their destiny? Never plan to try to be healthier or more attractive?”
Read this post earlier, I can’t help but observe what would happen to the tattoos if say an obese female, let’s say 250, 300 pounds, with lots of tattoos lost pounds and came down to a more manageable weight, say in the neighborhood of 150 pounds. It’s probably happened.
Your outside is what you choose to broadcast about your inside.
If you have F### ME DOGGIE STYLE across your back (yes, I have seen that one), I suspect you do not share my values.
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