Poll: Does the mainstreaming of tattoos open up increasing opportunities for faith ink witness?

[farouk]

@VictoryinJesus FYI...did you see the poll, above, that I started recently?

 

[farouk]

Thanks to all who voted so far in the poll!

NB: If you have not yet voted in the poll, please vote now!

 

[farouk]

He had both arms with some thing on them. ..
One arm had MOM + DAD ..
I liked looking at the MOM and DAD, and thought maybe he would add me to

that but , , , , never did. ...

@Grams Lots of memories - sad and happy -, right?

Tattoos can bring all sorts of memories, too. It used to be a man thing years ago. Now so many women do it too.

 

[farouk]

Just the one time.

!

 

[farouk]

Pretty much every one I know, and that includes Christians and myself, have a tattoo so...

@Nancy ...so lots of Christians would just say: 'Use (or work as), a tattoo artist / Don't use (or don't work as), a tattoo artist; it's no big deal.

 

[farouk]

@Not me FYI....did you see the recent poll, above?

 

[Not me]

@Not me FYI....did you see the recent poll, above?

No I didn’t, but before I can vote I need a clarification on what does;

“increasing opportunities for faith ink witness” .... mean ?

Is it talking about religious or tattoo’s with a reference to faith as there subject matter?

In the Beloved, Not me

 

[farouk]

No I didn’t, but before I can vote I need a clarification on what does;

“increasing opportunities for faith ink witness” .... mean ?

Is it talking about religious or tattoo’s with a reference to faith as there subject matter?

In the Beloved, Not me

@Not me

Thanks for the question. I guess the term is very generally used. The OP simply sets the background about the sheer profusion of the medium today.

Leaving aside personal likes/dislikes and the aesthetic/unaesthetic aspect, I guess it's a general question about the overall ball park and ultimately inevitably what many Christians will regard as opportunities for using the medium in Gospel opportunity ways.

I mentioned a while ago that at the very conservative, small local church where my wife and I go probably a seeming majority of the young men / boys wore earrings; and one of them was telling us about the tattoo he was planning; it relates to his mother's tattoo design. Long gone are the days when conservative religious ppl could sweepingly "moralize" against them on the supposed grounds that tattoos (and pierced ears) are not part of the culture.

Around here (Bible Belt), it is common, especially among evangelical Christians, for the girls under about 40 to have religious tattoos. More do than don't, especially when you get to the under 30 crowd. I hardly know any female at church that is under 30 that does not have a tattoo.

forums dot thewelltrainedmind dot com

My wife and I talked to a young lady with the whole of John 3.16 tattooed on her wrist area; it was her favorite Bible verse and mine also and I'm sure other conversations have arisen as a result of her willingness to undergo the ink injecting at the parlor.

So really the background to the poll is little about likes and dislikes, and all about its prevalence and likely wide, pragmatic perceptions among believers of opportunities it can bring.

Thanks, again, for the question. This is inevitably an area where individual believers are simply going to have all sorts of different ideas.

 

[Not me]

@farouk,

To each his own, which goes for me also... I just think there ugly..

But what is that to me? I follow Christ..

Be blessed as we do. Not me

 

[farouk]

@farouk,

To each his own, which goes for me also... I just think there ugly..

But what is that to me? I follow Christ..

Be blessed as we do. Not me

@Not me Thanks! (Did you vote in the poll yet...?)

 

[Not me]

@Not me Thanks! (Did you vote in the poll yet...?)

Yes, just did..

Be blessed and enjoy, Not me

 

[farouk]

Yes, just did..

Be blessed and enjoy, Not me

@Not me Thanks! (Hmm... on my screen your vote doesn't seem to have come up...will check back later...)

 

[farouk]

Dan would like one, but doesn’t go out because of his agrophobia

@Rita Let's trust that over this distancing period he will find a peace at home and a sense of settling his thoughts by God's grace in the perennial things that really matter in terms of values for time and eternity. I'm sure you pray for him a lot and for all the family.

 

[farouk]

@Sabertooth Some weeks ago you said:

No. We never stressed that it was wrong, just to wait until they were 18, just in case they changed their mind (kind of like regret, before the fact).

I'm sure a lot of Christian 18 years olds, coming of age, purpose to do it very carefully and then get appointments to have it done pretty innocently, often in faith related designs that they are very earnest about.

 

[Sabertooth]

@farouk , past the question of content, I really think that tattoos are a side issue (with cultural reinforcement in some places). They have all the pros & cons of any other art medium, except for their permanence.

 

[farouk]

@farouk , past the question of content, I really think that tattoos are a side issue (with cultural reinforcement in some places). They have all the pros & cons of any other art medium, except for their permanence.

@Sabertooth I agree. Really I would not give young Christians at 18 a hard time at all, especially if they earnestly and innocently purposed after a lot of new adult conviction that they really wanted to express faith in this very widely used medium.

Time and again, it has proven a conversation-starter that works. I mentioned that my wife and I talked to a modest and even a bit shy young lady with the whole of John 3.16 tattooed on her wrist area; it was her favorite Bible verse and mine also; and I'm sure other conversations have resulted - and will result - in this permanent and modest development, which I'm sure in her mind was a very significant and memorable step to proceed with as a young adult going to use the parlor.

Seems like you never pressured your 18 year olds about using the parlor, one way or another; their decision by then, after all.

 

[farouk]

We never stressed that it was wrong, just to wait until they were 18

@Sabertooth In some families it seems like it's become a traditional - strictly optional - parental gift for their 18 year olds. (For both genders.)

Not that the 18 year old is expected to do it. But more accurately that the 18 year old expects to do it (this is definitely not splitting hairs); and so it's a family tradition for the parents to pay for it.

I can certainly see Christian families doing this too. As long as the 18 year old knows s/he is fully in charge of doing it, deciding it and designing it -especially if it's faith based.

 

[farouk]

@Not me Your poll vote came up now! thanks...

 

[farouk]

It is becoming a tool people are using to let others identify their faith.

Exactly; agreed.

 

[farouk]

@Waiting on him Back a bit:

With two small children she says it not possible

Maybe when they are in their teens she'll be able to pursue the apprenticeship for the inking artform that she really likes.