Should Catholics Get Tattooed?

[julianneoflongbeach]

Any theological reasoning behind getting or not getting tattoos.

 

[Lilllabettt]

why put a bumper sticker on a Bentley?

[Tab'le De'Bah-Rye]

Holy scripture states in the O.T. " Do not get tattoos like a pagan." It is still up for debate whether that means don't get tattoos period or just to get religious tattoos that have a christian meaning, and clearly a christian meaning in line with the teachings of the church. I have religious tattoos but i had some done before i became a christian, and one is a protestant symbol, the oil lamp of the gideon bible. Amazing though that i got religious tatts before i was christian,lol. I am undecided whether to finish them all coz there all a bit of a mess and half finished, if i don't i'm not bothered. A priest said to me that some saints had 'JESUS' branded on there chest on the heart side...before they became saints. I think he was being coy saying that they weren't saints when they got the tatt but still became saints anyway.

Edited August 2, 2015 by Tab'le De'Bah-Rye

[Luigi]

What do you mean, "Should Catholics get tattooed?" Like, to prove that they're Catholic or something? 

 

If I ever get a tattoo, it will be a Cross of Lorraine over my heart. 

 

But I doubt I'll ever get a tattoo. 

[Tab'le De'Bah-Rye]

Should a women where make up or not ? Permanent and semi permanent aside, it is a deeper level aint it, coz at the resurrection we will have glorious new bodies? I believe not everyone has to eat apples although apples indeed are good. Not everyone has to where makeup, not everyone has to have short hair, not everyone has to have long hair. not everyone has to have tattoos. I believe if the christian get christian themed tattoos it is ok, but i will neither say good or bad and don't think it's something to be argued about, just like makeup,hair length, or fashion sense. Also i am no priest, perhaps talking to various different priests is a good idea and each from a different rite though of course all catholic. Maybe a novus ordo, and a dominican and a carmelite. Idk. And discuss it with them if they have the time, call them and book a 30 minute meeting, To be sure to be sure when irish eyes are smiling.

And if your still unclear you can take my advice if you like, the ones will be on me and i will be the one spending extra days in purgatory not you, but please get at least a few different opinions from a few different priest and if you don't like my advice or any other phatmass advice than i suggest when in doubt just wait and don't act on impulse, the answer is yet to be revealed and will be revealed at a later date by the LORD.

Edited August 2, 2015 by Tab'le De'Bah-Rye

[julianneoflongbeach]

What do you mean, "Should Catholics get tattooed?" Like, to prove that they're Catholic or something? 

 

If I ever get a tattoo, it will be a Cross of Lorraine over my heart. 

 

But I doubt I'll ever get a tattoo. 

I mean more if you could consider being tattooed either moral or immoral from a Catholic perspective..

 

[PhuturePriest]

Michael Voris has a tattoo of the word "Catholic" in Greek on his left shoulder, because the Roman legionnaires would get "SPQR" tattooed on their left shoulder. Matt Fradd has one of the reverse side of the Miraculous Medal on the underside of his left forearm. Finally, there is a sect of Christians in the Middle East who brand themselves with a tattoo cross on their arm. 

The reason why Leviticus condemned tattoos was because in that time, people would get tattoos of gods to worship them. God wanted nothing of the sort with the Israelites because they had proved they were in no way trustworthy in terms of their loyalty. There were many laws which were very odd, and God made it so in order to separate the Jews from assimilating into other societies, as every time they had done so they would end up doing something stupid like worshiping a golden calf or worshiping Ba'al in prostitution rituals.

[MarysLittleFlower]

I believe we should keep ourselves as God created us and not change appearance for vain reasons. I have chosen not to wear makeup either for that reason (personal conviction; not to debate)

Edited August 2, 2015 by MarysLittleFlower

[Nihil Obstat]

Michael Voris has a tattoo of the word "Catholic" in Greek on his left shoulder, because the Roman legionnaires would get "SPQR" tattooed on their left shoulder. Matt Fradd has one of the reverse side of the Miraculous Medal on the underside of his left forearm. Finally, there is a sect of Christians in the Middle East who brand themselves with a tattoo cross on their arm. 

If ever I were to get a tattoo, I would do exactly this, or with a St. Benedict medal.

The eastern Christians you are thinking of are the Copts.

[Tab'le De'Bah-Rye]

 

 

why put a bumper sticker on a Bentley?

I agree it is best totally natural of course including wearing clothing, but also i don't think it evil to wear makeup or even have a particular fashion sense, as long as no one is being persecuted for there non consequential choices like hair length. Though yes it is holier with none of the above but also not un holy if a man chooses to have hair grown below there shoulders. That's my understanding anyway. As we all know God looks more so at the inside than the outside and as to whether our philosophies,actions and words are inline with the magesterium and holy scripture to the best of our knowledge and understanding what these mean and to be of good will toward God and others, of course neither crucifying ourselves if we fall nore assuming Gods mercy.

I believe we should keep ourselves as God created us and not change appearance for vain reasons. I have chosen not to wear makeup either for that reason (personal conviction; not to debate)

For some reason my quotes didn't group, my response was toward both these quotes.

Edited August 2, 2015 by Tab'le De'Bah-Rye

[Catlick]

THEODORE DALRYMPLE

Tattoo Le Monde

The French succumb to the scourge of self-mutilation.

January 9, 2014

France is three or four decades behind Britain in cultural degeneration but is making valiant efforts to catch up. One straw in the wind I noticed a few years ago was the arrival of a tattoo parlor in the small town near where I live when I am in France. This alarmed me. I had mistakenly thought that the French had too much taste to go in for this form of self-mutilation.

Since then, much slippery slope has been slid down. According to a recent article in Libération, 400 professional tattooists operated in France in 2003. Now, only ten years later, there are 4,000. I doubt that any other industry has grown nearly as fast, and many may have contracted as quickly. According to one of the newspaper’s informants, if the trend continues, tattooists may soon be as numerous in France as hairdressers.

Tattooing is an inchoate symbol of an equally inchoate rebellion, but in France even rebels seek the bureaucratic embrace of the state. The French association of tattooists, the Syndicat national des artistes-tatoueurs, is pressing the government to recognize tattooing as a bona fide profession, with all the corresponding benefits. Incidentally, tattooists who work informally, without paying taxes, are known as scratcheurs.

Why do people get themselves tattooed? There was a time when it was mainly sailors and criminals who did so, but that time is long past.Libération offers four vignettes of people who have recently had themselves tattooed, without explaining how or why they were chosen. Edouard, 36, is a primary school teacher. He had a dragon tattooed on his back during a trip to China in “homage” to Bruce Lee, who died four years before he was born. By having it done there, he saved $800—what would have cost $1,200 in France cost only $400 in China. Edouard has shown his tattoo to his pupils, “and it didn’t shock them.” But Edouard said that he would never get himself tattooed on the face, neck, or hands, places on the body much more visible, because “given my job,” that might be felt as “a provocation” by his pupils’ parents. Obviously such parents need to overcome their prejudices.

Serge, 42, is an organist in Liège. First he had his right arm tattooed with Maori motifs that he knew to be of deep symbolic significance, but “I don’t know what, exactly.” Then he had his left arm tattooed. It is worth quoting what he said in full, for only in this way can the full depths of his shallowness be appreciated:

This time it was more spiritual. It was butterflies, symbols of life after death. That’s rather close to my ideas of the Other Side. And I have another project in mind: a ram’s head on the back with horns that reach my shoulder blades. The ram is my astrological sign, and it is an animal that resembles me: strong and flamboyant.

Serge, this hybrid of sheep and butterfly, admits that provocation was one motive for his tattoos.

It is all too easy to mock this farrago of drivel, but something both sad and serious underlies it. Neither Edouard nor Serge are stupid; moreover, they have between them something like 50 years of education and training—but they are lost souls. When, for example, Céline, a 31-year-old carpenter, tells Libération that she wants to “express something of myself” by having a “tribal” pattern tattooed round her navel, one senses a desperate (and failed) attempt to have a real personality in an impersonal world. And then, of course, there is the Fall-of-Rome aspect of the whole phenomenon.

Theodore Dalrymple is a contributing editor of City Journal, the Dietrich Weismann Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, and the author of many books, including Our Culture, What’s Left of It: The Mandarins and the Masses.

[MarysLittleFlower]

Tab, there's actually a revelation from Jesus to a Saint where He says He doesn't want people "painting themselves" to look more beautiful than how He made us. Its going beyond jewellery in my opinion and even jewellery can be worn vainly. But I don't feel its good to change the face with makeup. Just what i felt for myself. There's also that private revelation too. I know we're not obligated to follow private revelations but IMO its more simple to accept those the Church has accepted and this one was to a Saint.

[AccountDeleted]

Whether or not a person gets a tattoo or wears make-up or wears long hair or short hair, or long skirts or slacks or jeans or even kilts, it's all irrelevant. God judges not by appearance, but by the heart.

To get hung up on all of these externals is to waste time that would be better spent in prayer or service to others. The saints can have their private revelations - and the Church can approve them in essence - but the reason the Church says one does not have to follow private revelations is because they often contradict each other on the non-essentials. The essence of what the saints reveal is that God is love, and that's my main focus. So if I want to wear make-up (especially in a corporate environment) to look and feel well groomed, then so be it. Jesus isn't watching us and judging us on these things - only our fellow human beings seem to do that! 

 

[Ice_nine]

I don't wear make-up, have piercings, or any tattoos and you all know how freakin holy I am so . . .

 

 

all kidding aside, your body is a temple. Treat it as such. That's not to say tattoos are bad, I'm a fan myself and think many are beautiful, but I also think most of them are stupid and/or regret-makers. I'm really glad I didn't get any when I was younger (though I'm still young now holla) because I was even more dumb than I am now.

Question for the room: If one thinks tattoos are a form of self-mutilation (usually conservative, more traditional types tend to think this) isn't self-flagellation self-mutilation (or potentially could be depending on how far you take it)? What about tattooing oneself as a form of penance? I hear rib tattoos hurt like a you know what

[AccountDeleted]

I don't wear make-up, have piercings, or any tattoos and you all know how freakin holy I am so . . .

 

 

all kidding aside, your body is a temple. Treat it as such. That's not to say tattoos are bad, I'm a fan myself and think many are beautiful, but I also think most of them are stupid and/or regret-makers. I'm really glad I didn't get any when I was younger (though I'm still young now holla) because I was even more dumb than I am now.

Question for the room: If one thinks tattoos are a form of self-mutilation (usually conservative, more traditional types tend to think this) isn't self-flagellation self-mutilation (or potentially could be depending on how far you take it)? What about tattooing oneself as a form of penance? I hear rib tattoos hurt like a you know what

That's a really interesting question Ice. I don't have any tattoos but I do have pierced ears. Are they self-mutilation or vanity or a physical penance? It hurt like hell when I had them done, and for weeks afterwards it was really uncomfortable!