Tattoo You

There are many reasons why people get tattoos but I believe it ultimately boils down to a need to change yourself, maybe an internal change you are unable to make, or an external one because you are unhappy with yourself. 50 years ago if you were a biker, criminal or a sailor you got a tattoo, now it has become prevalent in Western culture. Many young girls get tattoos, mine won't be. I will set about instilling in them the idea that their body is a temple, to be respected and not defiled by tattoos or piercings. A study of "at-risk" (as defined by school absenteeism and truancy) adolescent girls showed a positive correlation between body-modification and negative feelings towards the body and self-esteem. (^ Carroll L, Anderson R (2002), "Body piercing, tattooing, self-esteem, and body investment in adolescent girls", Adolescence 37 (147): 627–37, PMID 12458698 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12458698)). If I can keep them from these negative feelings then I should be one up on popular culture. If they decide to do it have I failed in this respect, no, still I will feel there is something not right with there inner being if they do. It is the manifestation of a dark heart to get a tattoo. The bible tells us “You shall not make gashes in your flesh for the dead, or incise any marks on yourselves: I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:28); it is an affront to God to mark your body in such a fashion. If God wanted us to have tattoos we would have been born with them. "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you were born, I separated you for myself." (Jeremiah 1:5) Also in 1 Corinthians 6 we are told "The fact is, you don't belong to yourselves; for you were bought at a price. So use your bodies to glorify God." and a tattoo does not do this.

You may be saying to yourself but Kevin you don't go to church why are you quoting scripture? To this I say just b/c I choose not participate in an organized religion it doesn't mean I am not well founded in the laws of God or that I am not spiritual. I believe that the word of God, though through the pen of man has to be understood. There are reasons these verses are in the Bible

How to stop them? I can't when they leave my house, but what I can do is instill in them that it is not in their best interest to get a tattoo. Some questions I will ask: Do you want to talk about this tattoo to random people for the next 70 years?, You want it now but what about when you are 80? Why do you want to do this, b/c your friends are or is there some true deep and meaningful purpose?

I will tell them I don't like tattoos and ask the above questions. Ultimately though my best weapon is to teach them modesty and that there bodies are precious, even sacred and things like tattoos and piercing should not be entered into lightly. They are also a reflection of their self worth and if their self worth is high they will probably never even entertain the idea. I never have, not b/c of the bible, not b/c I was afraid of getting AIDs, only because I saw no need to destroy the perfection of my body as it existed when I was born.

Amor Fati