I have been intrigued with the subject of tattoo’s for several years and to be honest I have never really wanted one myself. There have been a couple of times where someone would criticize those who have them that made me want to go out in rebellion to get one but that’s about as far as it goes.
Let me say up front, there is nothing biblical that says one cannot have a tattoo, I know the scripture that you will point to prove me wrong and I welcome you to do that. Here is the caveat for that though. Go to that scripture that you use to prove we should not have tattoo’s and read the entire portion of scripture in its context and then make your argument.
I have been moved by several people’s stories behind why they have gotten a tattoo. I can understand why people would want one and I might even be convinced to get one, although I’m not planning on it.
This is a well written book with its focus on those who have tattoo’s and their stories behind them. I learned some terms that I was unfamiliar with in the tattoo world that I believe will help me to better have conversation with those who have them and also I have learned that it is OK to ask someone about the story behind their tattoo. As a matter of fact, people usually have a good reason and want them displayed where people can see them.
There is no big biblical argument for or against tattoo’s contained in the book which is what I had really expected to find. There are some moving stories and some great examples of those who love their tattoo’s and those who wish they hadn’t gotten them.
Here are a few quotes from the book.
“Everybody’s got a way of expressing their feelings, and mine is through tattoos.” —David Beckham
“An estimated 45 million Americans have endured the pain of marking their bodies in order to tell us something of their stories.”
“And although the other 268 million may not have their skin permanently inked, the truth is, we’ve all been marked by pain.”
“It turns out many people will endure the pain of a needle repeatedly injected into their skin to create a permanent image if that image has deep meaning to them.”
“A cold-blooded source of pain threatened to permanently discolor Viktor Frankl’s future, and he had a tattoo to memorialize it. It was a simple number on his arm—119104—a number given to him by Nazi soldiers when he was suddenly forced into the horror of a World War II concentration camp. While a prisoner, he was stripped of everything he owned—his possessions, his identity as a prominent psychiatrist, and his pride. He suffered the loss of his wife and friends to the death chambers. He was malnourished to the point of becoming almost a walking skeleton and forced to perform hard labor in extreme conditions. Documenting his survival and lessons he learned in his classic book Man’s Search for Meaning, he said, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
“Tattoos were first introduced to the United States when German-born Martin Hildebrandt tattooed both Union and Confederate soldiers in their camps. Tattooing reached its “golden age” in the 1940s when sailors returned home sporting their new body art. Tattoo popularity spread to include bikers in the 1950s, hippies in the 1960s, rock stars in the 1970s and 1980s, and athletes in the 1990s. Now, tattoos have become part of the mainstream. According to the Pew Research Center, 40 percent of people born between 1961 and 1981 have at least one tattoo.”
“Since we don’t see into the heart, we often avoid, at best, and slander, at worst, those who are different. We conveniently forget that we’ve all sinned and fall short of God’s glory.”
I give it 5 or 5 stars, just because I enjoyed the book, it was well written and I learned something new.
Ronnie
