Poll: Tattoo art - Christian perspectives: Fight it? Ignore it? appreciate/embrace it?

[GodsGrace]

@GodsGrace Well, I guess the short response would be that the contours of the placement decide the size, really.

(You also referred to some decisions or others.)

I was JK.
And now...
Bon Nuit...

 

[farouk]

If it works- go for it. I have quizzed folks with massive body art. Very careful to be harmless but asked them the whys of it. I have learned a lot from them.

@Ronald Nolette Yes, even leaving aside the aesthetics - good, bad, or indifferent - today a lot of young Christians do it out of sheer pragmatism, knowing that it works, like you say.

My wife and I talked to a young lady - maybe aged 18 -20 - with the whole of John 3.16 tattooed on her wrist area, a silent witness. One can exactly see how from a pragmatic perspective she would have gone to have all the wording painstakingly shot into the dermis at a modest placement, secure in the anticipation that it would be a regular talking point opportunity. Seeing also as in North America apparent statistics show that 55% - 70% or more of tattoo parlor clients are female, young Christian women as well as men can like you say - go for it - with a lot of social confidence.

As @Lambano says about Mrs. Lambano,

Yes, she does use her tattoos as conversation starters.. she’ll praise God .. to whoever will listen.

 

[farouk]

Back a bit

It has me thinking, when I first started in the workforce, I met people full of tattoos who would say things (or post things on social media) like "I didn't get tattoos so you could ask me about them. I got them for me."

It made me not want to talk to people about their tattoos.

@Rudometkin

Maybe true in some cases. But if you meet someone with a Bible verse tattoo, you might be meeting a fellow-believer who would appreciate a bit of encouragement.

(If this makes sense?)

PS: Sorry I posted something in the wrong thread earlier...

 

[farouk]

I was JK.
And now...
Bon Nuit...

@GodsGrace Anyway, in some ways I wish more Christians were prepared to consider working in tattoo parlors, don't you?

 

[GodsGrace]

@GodsGrace Anyway, in some ways I wish more Christians were prepared to consider working in tattoo parlors, don't you?

I don't think they'd like some of the images people pick out.
A lot of them are rather "dark".

 

[farouk]

PS:

Then, again, armor ink as a talking point about spiritual conflict can be very effective; FYI:

pinterest dot com

This kind of tattoo could very easily be used as a very effective means of turning conversations to Ephesians 6 and the spiritual topic of the Whole Armor of God. There seems to be a very gracious, purposeful immediacy about a design such as this, and would likely be proven very useful in testimony conversations on the part of the wearer willing to use it as such.

@Lambano Thanks for the 'like'; I see that @GodsGrace thought it was a bit big as a tattoo - well, it is somewhat bigger than some - but I guess it's according to the individual's sense of how big she wants it; also, contours can easily determine a suitable size.

 

[farouk]

I do have a co-worker with a cross tattooed on his forearm!

@Rudometkin It kind of says, I'm happy to talk about what I believe, doesn't it?

 

[farouk]

my wife sent me Grandson’s latest picture. Two ear studs in each ear

@Lambano ..... and why not?

Everyone has subjective preferences, but if young men get to a certain age and want to stud their ears, why not? I think if family members sometimes express surprise about such developments it's more about them realizing suddenly how fast they have grown up. (A bit like Rita's comment a while ago about having been a bit surprised when her sons got tattooed at 18: it wasn't really the tattoos , but internalizing the fact that they had evidently grown up...)

 

[farouk]

I don't think they'd like some of the images people pick out.
A lot of them are rather "dark".

@GodsGrace I guess part of the context of what I said was that in some areas they are just so widespread and tending to be in conservative and religious designs; the demand is so high for them:

QueenCat said:

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

 

[farouk]

Afraid not much to be done about wrinkles.. Every year, another level complete; every wrinkle, a trophy.

@FluffyYellowDuck

Well, by her comments, the prospect of wrinkles didn't seem to worry UnrulyBeauty, pages back.... :)

The last one I got was many, many years ago. I would love to get a few more before I'm old and wrinkly .. Tattoos have been "non-taboo" for a good 20 years or so. I think a lot of older people (and I'm not young to begin with lol) still think that tattoos are this grungy, rough, male trend. But that hasn't been the case for many, many years.

They are so widespread now that both younger and older Christians can get faith based tattoos - perhaps for witness conversation purposes - with a lot of social confidence. (If they so prefer....)

 

[farouk]

Hi @Waiting on him The head covering thread has taken off so much that this tattoo thread seems to have been left behind...

(Or maybe this is not a bad thing...?)

cc @FluffyYellowDuck

 

[Waiting on him]

Hi @Waiting on him The head covering thread has taken off so much that this tattoo thread seems to have been left behind...

(Or maybe this is not a bad thing...?)

cc @FluffyYellowDuck

If you could convince all that tattoos have some special power to protect them from the bad Angels, maybe they’d all have their heads tattooed. This could be like a new cultural event?

 

[farouk]

If you could convince all that tattoos have some special power to protect them from the bad Angels, maybe they’d all have their heads tattooed. This could be like a new cultural event?

@Waiting on him

Well...

You've maybe raised a truly new aspect....

Some ppl seem to believe that you will be jinxed if you do get a tattoo.

So you mean to say that some ppl also believe you will be jinxed if you don't?

I guess my further 2c is that tattoos have become so culturally mainstream, in North America at least, that Christian men - and women (seeing as 55%-70% or more of parlor clients are female) seem to get faith based tattoos - which so easily become useful talking points - with a great deal of social confidence.

cc @Mayflower