Are Tattoos Sinful? Your Thoughts...

it's not desecration, it's decoration.

it is also written that the body is the temple. if this is about desecrating your temple then take down the stain glass from the church windows. (and GFYS)

quoting scripture will do no good. the verse refers to specific conditions, and is addressing a specific group of people. AND depending on what version of the scripture you happen to be holding would depend on exactly what is written.

don't you just love cut & paste virtue? "oh i love this part, but we leave the rest out!"

i've been a professional tattoo artist for over 15 years and have tattooed on sinners and saints alike.

i guess that makes me an idiot too, eh Dock9? this idiot makes a living off of helping people feel better about themselves. don't sweat it though, no hard feelings. i don't hire arrogant supremacists, so that makes us even.

...and i suppose i'm going to hell with my misguided principles and appreciation of art.

people get tattooed for every reason under the sun. not just for vanity's sake, which might be sinful in some circles.

any other professional artists here?

hey, it may be expensive but we gotta eat too. done properly it is an expensive undertaking, and in current society, a luxury at that. art ain't cheap. anybody can scrawl some crap on your skin. it takes an artist to make it look good for a lifetime.

to address another point: aging. time kills everything. so does the sun. thats beside the point. the point is this; many old people got tattooed 30, 40, 50 years ago in some foreign/third world port. technology including health care/sanitation, tattoo ink, tattoo machines, the use of latex/nitrile gloves, and many other single-use disposable items has come a very very long way since the old people that now have blue and blurry tats were saving the world from communism an entire hemisphere away from what we regard as civilization.

(****. i've outted myself.)






[edit on 31/5/2010 by gravykraken]

reply to post by Dock9


Wow, interesting diatribe there, Just to educate you a bit, not everyone who has ink is stupid, regardless of what you think.

I carry two Phd.'s and am quite intelligent, and I have ink. My ink is not for your perusal, it is on my person for my own enjoyment and not yours. And, that is the opinion of most of the people who ink themselves for any reason. I fail to see where ink has anything to do with a persons intelligence level.
And as for getting ink because we don't want to grow old-hell no I don't want to age, but that doesn't mean I wont, and yes I am quite prepared to have the little girls in the nursing home s'n-word' at my tattoos.
As for your unusually bad opinion of ink, I feel sorry that you will miss out on meeting many interesting and intelligent people, not to mention the employees who could potentially make millions for whatever company you hire for because of your apparent phobia

[edit on 31-5-2010 by Rossa]

The Bible says defiling your body is a sin. The bible says the body is a holy temple and belongs to God. So, if you're a Christian, tattoos are no-nos.

But, if you're human, no sin. Realistically, you're eventually going to rot away
into a steaming heap of muck, buried in grave somewhere....or worse.
So who cares what you do...

Why post this on ATS is a better question

NO! Personally I love tattoos, I always have. I tend to like guys with them as well I have 7 myself and they are all a personal reflection of me. These are the little things that make me, ME! I know people get some and regret them later, that is why I tell people to make sure it's something that isn't a phase or something that is just cool, make sure it has personal long term meaning. I don't see art on your body as a representation of who you are a sin.

My feelings on sin are different. My job for heaven's sake is considered a sin to some, but it's a job and I am not doing anything illegal. It all depends on what your definition of a sin is. I don't see sex before marriage a sin, but some do. It's just depends on your beliefs.

Nice thread

reply to post by Raustin


Weeeeell...I'm going to chime in with my opinion...aaaaand back it up with a little bit of fact.

First, I don't believe in "sin"...I don't believe the "being born in sin" nonsense...that's just a type of control mechanism to herd the people who would rather not take responsibility for their lives.

I'm fairly heavily tattooed (well, not heavily, I have around 14...I think...including several on my arms, one on each leg, two fairly large bats on my chest and one on the back of my neck) and I have a few of what some would consider "dark" (um...have you read my name...?).
I'm a huge believer that tattooing is a very personal rite of passage.
To me, I believe that, only for myself, tattoos are a commemoration of an epoch in your life and a reminder of lessons learned.
Don't get me wrong, I have a few comic book tattoos, two Satanic tattoos and some other archaic symbols...all reminders of some of the things I've learned that have made me me.
For all of you who believe that tattooing is a "fad" and a recent occurrence, leeeeet me shed some light on the situation for you...
Tattooing has been done for at least 5000 years.
So, that pre-dates basically all mainstream religions.
They were used by tribal cultures for medicinal and spiritual purposes. The Tahitians and Samoans have used them for longer than their culture can recall for various identification purposes.
The ancient Greeks and Romans used tattooing to assist in the denotation of rank and social status.
The Egyptians used tattooing to bless young women with fertility.
The ancient Norse tattooed their warriors with symbols to protect them in battle.
The Natives of North America used tattoos to identify which tribe or clan they belonged to.
The list goes on and on.
An interesting article about tattooing throughout the ages by actual archaeologists and anthropologists.

All of these examples are from a pre-christian brainwashing era and anyone would be hard-pressed to find evidence or present an argument based on anything other than opinion that supports that tattoos have not been an important and substantiated part of a multitude of cultures throughout the history of this planet.
Iiiiiiiif anyone is interested, I wrote a fairly comprehensive research paper about the history, risks and social acceptability of tattooing which might assist in determining if it's right for you.

I'm a big pro-tattoo person. I'm a big fan of body modification (other forms are as, if not more, ancient than tattooing...not a recent fad as claimed by some of you) because we, as thinking, individual beings, need to be happy with ourselves and feel comfortable in our own skin. Something that nature might have forgotten when doling out our genomes.

reply to post by gravykraken


Yeah mate its art,and kudos to you and you ink artisans who do this for a living!

whats the going rate for a half sleeve over the pond these days?Got a 3 week bike trip across america next year and I just know I have to get some ink along the way.I expect a half chest one will do

To answer the Op's original question, no I don't believe ink is a sin, When I wear clothing you can't see my ink at all. and unless I told you, you'd never know it was there.

NO ONE has the right to tell me what I can do and can't do to my own body. I've known some very interesting people with ink. But, I do not believe it has any bearing on your religion. When the time comes fo rme to face my maker, the maker will look at whats in my heart not whats on my body. My opinion

reply to post by LadySkadi

I think tattoos are (or should be) a personal reflection of self. Some consider it art ... I'm not quite to that degree, but I do think that if you have ink than it should *mean* something to you or *reflect* something about you or tell a story about your life, whatever that may be. But that's mostly personal opinion. To each his/her own.

I couldn't have said it any better than that! Well done

To the OP, I would only add that for myself, I don't see my tats (2) as a sin, and I'm the last person worthy of judging sin in another.

I personally would not get a tattoo because I believe in keeping the body Holy. It's quite possible that a demon would convince a person to get one in the first place in order to make their body unholy in the eyes of God. I have known people who have gotten some terrible tatoos and really regret it, but I believe they will receive forgiveness once they change their hearts and lives. We are told we will get a new body without spot of blemish upon his return. So a tattoo is not a big deal if a person sincerely regrets getting it.

I think tatoos are cool, I have 6 of them myself and most people I know have them. And I don't have them because of any trend I just like the way they look and I have some personal things tatooed on me, that are there for me, not anyone else. I don't care if people like or hate them. I know people who are like in their 50s and 60s that have had tats since like the 60s. I don't think they are following any modern trend. lol.

They don't affect me spiritually or anything, so I don't think they are sinful at all.

But on the other hand there are tons of people who get tatoos just because they are "cool" and don't put much thought into them, these are the people that regret getting them in the end.


[edit on 31-5-2010 by jeasahtheseer]

My main fear about getting inked was they will mess it up and I'm left with some crap tat for the rest of my life.
In my 20s I thought I was being arch by thinking of getting a barcode tattoo on the back of my neck, it was a good job I didn't because loads of people got one and I would have just felt part of the herd.
In my 30s I considered getting some of that cool ultra violet ink but then I decided against it as my clubbing days are done.
So in the end, as I've yet to see anyone with a tattoo I'd like on my skin, I guess I probably never will...

As for if they are sinful or not I wouldn't know, I haven't been indoctinated into any organized religion......

[edit on 31-5-2010 by strangleholder1]

I am in category #1, without a doubt. I have a single tattoo, on the inside of my upper right arm. It is an adoption symbol I designed, and something I thought about doing for years before taking the plunge. My adoption is something very important to me, and wha the tattoo symbolizes is very important to me. I did not get the tattoo to look cool, nor do I give a damn what others think about it. If you get a tattoo because you care what others think, you're getting it for the wrong reasons.

Now, a number of people here like to act as if they have the right to tell others what they can or cannot do with their bodies. They think the body is a temple, and self mutilation is a sin, no matter how you look at it. Well, do these same ignorant bible thumpers ever drink alcohol? Ever smoke a cigarette? Ever eat candy or fastfood? It's funny to me how someone can sit there and tell someone else they are commiting a sin by marking their body, while they have a 45+ inch waist, never exercise, eat like crap, and have wine with dinner. If you are someone who trully thinks tattoos are a sin, and marking the body is disrepectful towards God, then you better have not ever eaten anything unhealthy, ever drank alcohol, ever had sweets, ever pierced any part of your body, and you better exercise every day. No one needs the bible to tell them what is good for the human body and what isn't. Nevermind the fact religion harms many more people than my tattoo ever will.

Tattoos.
Art or a form of expression. You tell me.

Later.


[edit on 5/31/2010 by endisnighe]

I recently got two tats.
One is my daughters name, the other says "jiu-jitsu" in chinese.
Both a reflection of two big things in my life.
I feel I am a pretty decent catholic.
Pray all the time, should probably go to church more.
When I got them, my sister in law said that it was sin.
I googled it and found an interesting article about it.
The bible says you should treat your body as a temple. You have to interpret that how you want.
It also says (I think) that christian men should not cut their hair or shave their beards. This came from the article so if it does not say this, please correct me.
I try to live my life as best i can being brought up hard core catholic. But I really believe that God is not going to say "Listen, you were a good brother, son, husband and father. You lived a good life, prayed all the time, but since you got your daughter's name tattoed on you, you will burn in hell.

Originally posted by Dock9

To my mind, they look cheap, stupid and dirty

If you go to "bubba" who tattoos out of his house, than sure.
If you get them professionally done, they are an exquisite piece of art.

Tats or no tats that's someone's OWN individual choice.

Have a lot tats meself, symbolics mostly, which refer to me and my search for spiritual truth, MY truth that is!!

Am not a lover of the dark, metal, death, skulls tats myself but hee it's FREE WORLD!! If that's ur thing, it's your skin, why should I bother?

As for so called 'HOLY' books that are written and scripts being put together by men, saying it's forbidden, that's crap!

In ancient and native cultures, like f.e. the aboriginals, tats are part of divers initiations in life. They show a phase in someone's life and gave the individual a sense of 'power'. Weither that's a placebo effect or not, doesn't matter. Tats are as old as humans

edit bc of multiply copies in commentsection

[edit on 5/31/2010 by Melyanna Tengwesta]

edit bc of multiply copies in commentsection

As for da OP's Q: Are Tats Sinful? H*ll NO!!!!!

[edit on 5/31/2010 by Melyanna Tengwesta]

Like I said before, You can get a scratcher tattoo and it WILL make you look like trash.

Or.. you can go to a professional.

This is my latest:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/e7fcff457cfc.jpg[/atsimg]

That is my artist in the background, he is also my brother.

The way I see it is... If someone is closed minded to think tattoos are gross - I don't want to know them. If someone thinks my tattoos are sinning - I don't like religious people, so I don't want to know them either.

Sorry peeps, I removed mine because they are a knowledge base.

Body art is art. Just remember, everything is tagged.