49 comments??

On Wednesday, I asked a short question on Facebook. What I received in response was 49 comments. Considering I am not a person who collects “friends” on Facebook, instead preferring to keep that number below 200, I was a little take aback by the interest…and I was floored by the firm stance that some people took.
The question was simply this. How do you feel about tattoos? The answers were varied and adamant and I’ll condense just a few for you…

To people you are meeting for the first time, they add to your first impression

They can be used to give a testimony of your life, love and sometimes despair. Lest we forget, it’s not about our Earthsuit, it’s about the Holy Spirit within!

if you are glorifying God with your tattoos as apposed to doing it to glorify yourself or something/someone else I’m okay with them.

I’m too fickle.

same way I feel about pierced ears and other body parts, God made it don’t mess with it!

God is an artist and I think if we are reflections of him we can be artists, too.

Love them

Icky…

I have none, my husband has none, most of my friends have none…and my opinion changes when I see one.

As an employer, I would be less likely to hire someone who is inked

Times have changed and the perception on tattoos has changed. I am looking at getting more.

I wouldn’t want to work for you if you based me on my tattoo.

Love them!!!

Unfortunately our biz is a service industry in which repeat biz and referrals are important. I had to go sit in a clients home for three days while our subs worked because she didn’t like the way they looked

I love them – just got my 3rd one 🙂

I think of each one of mine as artwork of a memory (a certain place or thing) I want to remember.

I think they should enhance one’s beauty – not cover it up.

I am Christian, owner of my own company, meet with CEOs and business folk often, and have multiple visible and non-visible tattoos. I have found no issue with them in my work nor life after Godliness, and thoroughly enjoy mine. My tattoos all have significant personal meaning.

I do not have any and I can’t imagine myself ever getting them.

Whoa. I wasn’t prepared for the debate but I’m sincerely intrigued by the viewpoints and I appreciated the candor. There weren’t too many people who sat on top of the fence on this one; rather, people chose a side and defended their position. Love it.

I reserved my opinion on Facebook but will tackle this subject with honesty and decorum. It’s not meant to be confrontational. I have no desire to battle it out or oppose your theory; rather, I’m just thinking out loud. I tend to do that quite often.  🙂

Times have changed. Being ingrained with the values you were raised with thirty years ago is understandable but it’s not always the right answer. Thank God I don’t consider using the “N word” even though I had relatives that did (and still do). It was acceptable and passed down to me like an heirloom. Thank God times have changed and people fought for their rights. Judging someone based on ink isn’t that far off from judging someone based on skin color, is it? It seems a tad archaic to me to simply accept values your parents instilled decades ago. Some were good, some were bad. You have the ability and the responsibility to lose the ones that aren’t in line with your own.

When it comes to being less likely to hire someone with tattoos, I am disappointed. It would be preferable if employers were able to encourage a more considerate company culture based on performance, rather than one that perpetuates prejudice. Further, if your clients feel so uncomfortable having a tattoo’d person in their home that you need to send a non tattoo’d person to supervise, I would question your choice in selecting clients. In the war of making a buck -vs- intolerance, I’m pretty convinced of which way I would choose.
I’m not going to address whether God has an issue with tattoos…or any cosmetic alterations, for that matter. That’s entirely interpretative, in my estimation, but I am entirely at peace that God loves when we honor Him in all things. God knows my heart in selecting a tattoo and I sleep well at night~ at least, where this topic is concerned.
Compliance is an easy way to garner approval and a sense of belonging and so it’s not surprising that those immersed in a strictly conventional lifestyle will sometimes feel threatened by anything from outside their comfort zone. However, given the volume and variety of people with tattoos today, the old fashioned stereotypes that society clings to cannot possibly be accurate. Right?

Okay, stepping off the soapbox. Please leave a comment to this post~ even if you completely disagree with me (in fact, especially if you disagree). I’ll love you no matter what your stance is and you can love me no matter what symbolic art I’ve chosen to live with for the rest of my life.

Blessings,
Amy