Ear piercing wrong?

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Is ear piercing a sin? I know many say no, and I know the Church didn’t make a specific statement on this issue. However there are two main things I consider:

First, the Church teaches that mutilation is wrong (except when you have to mutilate one part for the good of the whole body), because the finality of a human person implies the integrity of her body. This seems to imply that ear piercing is wrong

Secondly, even if the Church didn’t say something specific about a particular act, it doesn’t mean this act isn’t immoral. And as I said, the logical conclusion of the fact that mutilation is wrong seems to be that ear piercing is wrong.

Also, I know that God asked the Jews to circumcise. But there was a health issue that could justify it at the time (as I said, mutilation is wrong except if it is for the good of the whole body). It wasn’t purely symbolic.

So to me it seems that Catholics can disagree in good faith on this issue, but that if you take seriously the stance of the Church on mutilation, it is difficult to avoid the annoying conclusion that ear piercing is wrong. What do you think?
I precise that my interest here is not personal but purely speculative. I am more interested in specific replies to the arguments presented rather than short yes and no answers.
 
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Thanks for the reply but I was hoping for a specific reply to the arguments presented.
 
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I’d buy that argument that it’s a form of mutilation. Most won’t though.
I think it’s kind of weird to put pieces of metal through one’s ear. Others seem to like it. “Shrug”
 
@opop

No, the Church has a grave responsibility to speak if something is objectively sinful, and it hasn’t addressed this subject. People can have private views about it but they can’t say authoritatively that so and so or such and such is sinful.

The mutilation argument seems like a great overreach because piercings don’t ordinarily cause any harm or handicap to the body, except in rare cases of an infection, so it would fall in a similar category as a tattoo. Minor cell or skin damage for non-essential reasons is pretty common: lifting weights is a good example. Causing some sort of damage to the body in of itself doesn’t mean it is mutilation.

Peace.
 
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TK421 said:
No, the Church has a grave responsibility to speak if something is objectively sinful, and it hasn’t addressed this subject.
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During the first 19 centuries of the Church there wasn’t a clear pohibition of slavery by the Church. So the argument that the Church would have addressed it if it was wrong is not a very good argument.
TK421 said:
People can have private views about it but they can’t say authoritatively that so and so or such and such is sinful.
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I totally agree. As I said, I think Catholics can disagree in good faith on this issue,
TK421 said:
The mutilation argument seems like a great overreach because piercings don’t ordinarily cause any harm or handicap to the body, except in rare cases of an infection, so it would fall in a similar category as a tattoo
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As I understand it, mutilitaion is wrong because it goes against the integrity of the body, not just because it causes harm. So, as with many other moral acts, it’s not wrong just because of the consequences. But I may be wrong. Do you have a source that says the contrary?
TK421 said:
Minor cell or skin damage for non-essential reasons is pretty common: lifting weights is a good example.
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This could be justified as damaging a bit parts of thet body for the good of the whole body, which, as I said, the teaching against mutilation doesn’t forbid.
 
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DeniseNY said:
You don’t think that if the arguments were valid, the Church would have already acknowledged them?
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Not at all. The Church took many centuries to take its stance on many issues. This could be another issue that hasn’t be decided yet but that could be decided in the future.
 
No it is not sinful or immoral, adorning the ear lobes with rings made of various materials is found in all the cultures of the planet. It has been used on other parts of the body like nose, tongue and lips. Some are more extreme than others.
The Church has never objected about this practice.
However one must be clear as to what the Church teaches about “mutilation”
which is not a piercing. Cutting the clitoris of a young girl is such a mutilation. The Catechism is pretty clear about what constitutes a “mutilation”. A piercing does not deprive oneself or another of the use of the ear lobe, nose, tongue or lips.
But removing the clitoris of a young girl will have everlasting effects on the psyche of that woman.

Peace!
 
opop said:
Not at all. The Church took many centuries to take its stance on many issues. This could be another issue that hasn’t be decided yet but that could be decided in the future.
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Piercing is an ancient cultural tradition. I think the Church would have gotten to it by now.
 
It is wrong to call the act of piercing one’s ear an act of mutilation because it does not inherently deprive the person of any substantial good. It does not deprive you of your ear, so there is no wrong in it. The Church is not opposed to acts of minor destruction which do not oppose a life lived according to reason. When we speak of acts of mutilation, we mean the destruction of some bodily good which impedes human life.
 
From a health perspective, ear piercing in the lobe are safe. If you stop wearing earrings, the holes will heal.

Piercings through the cartilage can cause permanent damage.

Tunnel piercings are permanently disfiguring. Restorative surgery is required to close the holes.

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In my opinion, no. This question also has a lot of cultural baggage which I think has nothing to do with the faith.

When someone is getting some cosmetic procedure done, I think the important question is why they are doing it, rather than the ethics of the actual procedure, which to me seems like it usually ends in triviality.
 
@opop

I would argue that the Church has always consistently taught against chattel slavery, although the application of those teachings was often neglected or taken very loosely. I think it’s analogous to how the Church taught just war theory, but in historical practice, a monarch could justify war for almost any reason.

Since this subject is interesting to you, I would read/reread the section of the Catechism on the 5th commandment (which includes mutilation). Mutilation is seen as something that is disabling to the human body, so it would be very difficult to put an ear piercing in that category. Reading this section is also a good way of realizing that our world today is actually a long way off from properly honoring this commandment:

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a5.htm
 
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opop said:
This could be justified as damaging a bit parts of thet body for the good of the whole body, which, as I said, the teaching against mutilation doesn’t forbid.
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Like many other things, an earring is a form of creative expression for the person. People across the world and across multiple cultures use various forms of creative expression.
 
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Not a scientific answer, but I’d be willing to bet that 100% of the cardinals - as well as the Pope himself - had mothers with pierced ears.
 
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