Random thoughts - being judgmental of tattooed folks

Captain Rhett Butler

Captain Rhett Butler

Driving Instructor
Let me start by saying I'm not a fan of tattoos.

We were at the local park with our grandson, just trying to get him to enjoy the swing, slides, etc when this wild looking woman stuck up a conversation. She too was at the park with her kids. They were several years older than my grandson, but they were just kids running, chasing, playing and of course laughing and having fun. This wild looking woman had dyed hair and was covered up in tattoos across her arms, back, legs, chest, I mean she was covered up. She looked like she belonged in the trailer park, honestly, she gave me the creeps. At first I was sort of standoffish, thinking I'm not here for you lady, I'm here for my grandson. Anyways, she turned out to be the kindest, funniest lady, laughing and cutting up and such. After we spoke to her for a while, her husband drove up to pick them all up. He too was covered in tattoos and looked like a convict. After they drove off, my wife reminded me of a guy we both know who'd dress up sharp, even attend church and lead the choir, preach at funerals and yet is currently being investigated by the District Attorney's Office for Child porn, Child molestation, sexual battery and a whole list of other stuff.

This really made me take a step back and rethink my assumptions about people. The folks who were all tattooed up were the normal ones, while the sharp dressed "Christian" was the one who'll be headed to prison upon his conviction for the 11 felony counts Paulding County has on him.

Talk about a case of being judgmental, I suppose I need to go re-read that section of the Bible.





PS" Neither me, nor my wife, nor my two adult sons have tattoos, but both of my daughter-in-laws have multiple tattoos.
 
Yeah, I sometimes have the same reaction, even though I should know better, as several people at our last church were tattooed and were the most loving Christian people you'd ever meet. One of the singers at our current church has a full sleeve.

I don't understand the attraction of tattoos, but noticed while at Helen last weekend that more and more people obviously find them something they want.

People are who they are, and me plugging them into a catagory before getting to know them really doesn't represent Christ very well. I'll have to work on it.
 
I'ma fixin to get a tattoo of my leg on my arm and my arm on my leg and a tattoo of my chest on my back and my back on my chest and a tattoo of my face on my butt and ...... (I think I'll stop there.)


for the record: no ink

although my conservative and kind daughter has a few ( they mean something to her.... I guess)
She's the only one in the fam with 'em (she's always been a rebel)
 
I don't understand the desire for tats, and personally don't care for them. To me, it's like taking a Sharpie to a Picasso, it takes away from the beauty of what God created.

But, it's commonplace these days and most tats don't make me think any less of a person. I see it as just another fashion trend that I may or may not participate in. I have seen a few, especially when the tats are all over their face, that get kinda creepy looking.

I have to wonder how much "fad" is involved in this? Granted, it's been popular for quite awhile now, but will it last? I'm not so sure.

And how will people with tats feel about them when they get old, especially when stuff starts sagging?

True story...I had a tech years ago ago had tats of boobs on his arms. We had him wear sleeves when he would work inside certain customer's buildings. And the tech was OK with it.
 
The day my daughter turned 18 she got a Dixie Rose on the back of her shoulder as an act of defiance. Later she got a Celtic cross with a verse notation on the back of her neck, but now she wants the Dixie Rose covered up. My son in law has a sleeve with a serene forest scene with his children's names included. I understand the permanence of a tribute, but I'm baffled by the folks that are tatted like a side show freak.

I like to tease young people sometimes to make them think, I tell them they can't get into heaven with tattoos, because your body is God's Temple and he doesn't like graffiti on it. I tell them they have to sit on a rock outside of the Pearly Gates with a bucket of water and a wash cloth and scrub them off. "Tats are permanent,,, do you know how long that will take?", they ask. "Well, you have all of eternity but you might get started now and save a few years" I say and walk off. There may be some biblical reference some where, as Jews with Tats can not be buried in an orthodox cemetery.

Several years back my brother in law and I were having a similar conversation about tats, and only thing I could think of is a tat of my wedding anniversary tattooed backward over my heart so that I could read it in the mirror as I shaved, because I am always forgetting the exact date. "Not me", he said, "I'm having 'MARRIED, DNR' tattooed over my heart.", and that's when the fight started!
 
Same boat. I still struggle to not judge folks with tattoo's. Youngest has one or two, and I have friends and family with a multitude of them. I would say its a fad, but its one that has been going for a few decades. Seems to be very common place, so I'm thinking not a fad. Part of the ongoing desire to not judge by what I see.
 
I have a tattoo on each of my upper arms. Will tattoos keep a person out of Heaven? John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." It doesn't say, "Except those with tattoos."

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, "Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person, for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.''

Does that mean you will go to Hell if you have tattoos, or like to eat a lot of sweets, drink beer, whiskey, etc? No, it doesn't.
 
Boss 302 said:
I have a tattoo on each of my upper arms.
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I do not have any tattoos. I don’t have anything against them, I just never had the desire to get one…much less ten.

The Queen, on the other hand, has two. She’s one of the most unlikely people who you would ever expect to have a tattoo. Her first one was a penguin…she’s crazy about them. The second is of a hummingbird in memory of my mother. Both are on her foot / ankle and are not usually visible. The first one was in defiance of her mother who said she’d never get one as long as she lived at home. Finally, around the age of 35, she felt it was safe to get one. Both mean a lot to her and I have no issue with her having them.
 
J-man said:
I do not have any tattoos. I don’t have anything against them, I just never had the desire to get one…much less ten.

The Queen, on the other hand, has two. She’s one of the most unlikely people who you would ever expect to have a tattoo. Her first one was a penguin…she’s crazy about them. The second is of a hummingbird in memory of my mother. Both are on her foot / ankle and are not usually visible. The first one was in defiance of her mother who said she’d never get one as long as she lived at home. Finally, around the age of 35, she felt it was safe to get one. Both mean a lot to her and I have no issue with her having them.
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I didn't get my first one until December 2003, when it was small. The second I got in 2007. I had the first one covered up in 2012 and the coverup is large.
 
Back in the olden days when I was a child, my uncle Bill had tattoos. He had pictures of girls that filled each of his forearms, and he could make them dance. Those girly tattoos had been nude when he got them, but then he met my aunt and found Jesus, and had clothes tattooed over their nakedness. (They could still dance, though, as he used to show me often). Since that time, I never was fond of tattoos. I have none. I have two children, a boy and a girl. Well, they are now a man and a woman. My son feels pretty much like I do, and has no tattoos at all. Doesn't like them. My daughter is the opposite. She has tattoos all over her body, except for neck and face. Her daughter (who is now also a mother) is adorned the same. They are all good people, though. My daughter owns a jewelry shop in NYC and is quite successful. My grandaughter is also successful in her career with a pharmaceutical company in Florida. At one time I was concerned their ink would hold them back in their careers, but I have been proven wrong.
 
I don't care for tattoos. Seems everyone has them now.

So far my kids and their wives don't... but as you all have said, it is a trend. Who knows.

I have seen girls in beautiful dresses, hair and makeup immaculately done, and this big ol' gross tattoo that does nothing to compliment her dress or how elegant she might have looked without the dark markings all over her. Usually, only part of the tattoo shows... it is not like the dress highlights the tattoo... they fight for dominance... its just me. The rest of the world seems enamored with scribble scrabble on their skin.

For instance I saw Ireland Baldwin- Alec Baldwin's daughter...I almost choked at what was on he arm! And yet, she is a famous fashion model...

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