I am considering a tattoo

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callmeChris

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A holy one of course. that expresses my faith. one that stands out as an option for me is the IHS monogram.

If i do get one i was thinking of two styles, whatever i get its going on my right arm.

(minus the sun)
https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd....13367_4182875187779_9221249881337767481_n.jpg

**OR
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https://scontent-a-lga.xx.fbcdn.net...63371_4182874987774_4895737689759337242_n.jpg

Now. this thread has clearly been made before but i just needed to make another one for my own personal reasons. I did a little bit of research and it seems the Church has no official stance on tattoos. It doesn’t chastise people that do as long as it’s an appropriate tattoo that isnt satanic, pagan or vulgar in any sense. Now my mom said that the bible has a verse or two regarding carvings or painting of the body, but i was told that this only applied to early jewish traditions. Anyone care to give me (and especially my mom 😛 ) some enlightenment
 
Imagine what it will look like when you are in your 70’s.
 
I think the church would be agains excessive tattoos. The ones you show, as long as they are relatively small, shouldn’t be a problem. What I mean by realtively small, is that they aren’t huge. They shouldn’t take up a lot of skin. Maybe a bit on the shoulder. I would say nothing over about 2 inches. But I think that might be personal preference speaking there. I once considered tattos, but finally decided against it. Actually, the one time in my life when I had the money for tattoos, I decided my money was better spent elsewhere. But, seeing that this is a personal choice, I would speak with a priest first. I might be giving you wrong advice. :eek:
 
callmeChris said:
A holy one of course. that expresses my faith. one that stands out as an option for me is the IHS monogram.

If i do get one i was thinking of two styles, whatever i get its going on my right arm.

(minus the sun)

(…)

Now. this thread has clearly been made before but i just needed to make another one for my own personal reasons. I did a little bit of research and it seems the Church has no official stance on tattoos.
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Correct.
It doesn’t chastise people that do as long as it’s an appropriate tattoo that isnt satanic, pagan or vulgar in any sense.
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Correct.
Now my mom said that the bible has a verse or two regarding carvings or painting of the body, but i was told that this only applied to early jewish traditions. Anyone care to give me (and especially my mom 😛 ) some enlightenment
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There is a verse in Leviticus that refers to tattoos. What does it say? THIS. (The Good News version is the simplest.) What it is referring to are ritual or ceremonial tattoos. But it doesn’t apply to Christians. This CA Blog post explains it well. A snippet:
There is no reason why one cannot color one’s skin, which is what tattooing amounts to.
One can apply color to one’s skin by make-up (as is common among women), magic markers (as is common among children), press-on tattoos (as are common in Crackerjack boxes), or with real tattoos.
The mere fact that the ink goes into the skin in the latter case does not create a fundamental moral difference.
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And respect your mom. How long have you wanted either of those tattoos? One of the best pieces of advice I’ve heard regarding getting inked is to carry around a copy of the image you want as a tattoo and look at it everyday for a year. If you still want it after a year, go for it. When you share the above info with your mom, maybe you can tell her you will think and pray on it a year before getting it.

I like the sun part, BTW.
 
I don’t have any tattoos. So by no means am I some kind of tattoo apologist or whatever. But I wish that when people expressed their personal reservations about such things that they would keep it personal and not bring the Church into it because the Church doesn’t prohibit tattoos. So by all means, express your personal distaste for them, but leave the Church out of it.
 
buffalo said:
Remember, your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.

Can Catholics Bear ‘Body Art’?
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This, from that linked article
We might ask our young people to think of body art this way: You wouldn’t walk up to Leonardo Da Vinci’s The Last Supper with a palette and brush and attempt to improve on it by adding your own embellishments. And you certainly wouldn’t want to change it to the point that people could no longer tell what the original looked like. So why would you want to alter one of the greatest artist’s greatest masterpieces — you?
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is easily answered with this:
There is no reason why one cannot color one’s skin, which is what tattooing amounts to.
One can apply color to one’s skin by make-up (as is common among women), magic markers (as is common among children), press-on tattoos (as are common in Crackerjack boxes), or with real tattoos.
The mere fact that the ink goes into the skin in the latter case does not create a fundamental moral difference.
Click to expand...
Plus I alter the masterpiece that is me every time I get my hair cut or colored or even when style it. It isn’t permanent but they are still alterations and embellishments to what God gave me. And I hope to have a word with him, one-on-one, about that someday. (Sorry Pia, I think that’s a weak comparison.)

And I don’t have any tattoos (yet) either.
 
Don’t get a tattoo.

The US military is now forbidding ALL new recruits from having tattoos. Have a tattoo? The US military will reject you, for that reason alone. All presently-enlisted soldiers are being required to self-report all existing tattoos, so it can be verified that soldiers are not getting new ones if they have any already.

Why? According to a friend/US Army Major, because the US military recognizes that tattoos are associated with gang culture, and “the army has had it with low class people covered with tats.”

I happen to agree. Call me names; say my opinion’s obnoxious; whatever. I think tattoos are foolish and low-class looking.
 
PolarGuy said:
Don’t get a tattoo.

The US military is now forbidding ALL new recruits from having tattoos. Have a tattoo? The US military will reject you, for that reason alone. All presently-enlisted soldiers are being required to self-report all existing tattoos, so it can be verified that soldiers are not getting new ones if they have any already.

Why? According to a friend/US Army Major, because the US military recognizes that tattoos are associated with gang culture, and “the army has had it with low class people covered with tats.”

I happen to agree. Call me names; say my opinion’s obnoxious; whatever. I think tattoos are foolish and low-class looking.
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The OP didn’t say anything about joining the U.S. military, so I don’t know why he/she would be concerned about that.
 
Just a thought:
You can get an artisan on Etsy.com to create a medal or dog-tag with this image for you and simply wear it on a chain around your neck if you feel like making a statement of faith.

Wear that for a year, as one poster said, and see if that isn’t enough.

I’m not a fan of tattoos. I’ve never seen an instance where they were not distracting or distasteful after a couple of years, but that’s simply my opinion. Seems like a lot of people on here are more tolerant of them.
I don’t see it as a religious issue on any level.

But I would have a medal made instead. That way it’s easily, VERY easily removed.
Peace,
pianist
 
When I saw these examples–especially the first, even when I mentally removed the sun part–I thought of the Jesuits. I don’t even have a particularly strong connection to Jesuits.

If you choose a tattoo that resembles the seal of the Society of Jesus, one special consideration (beyond the general considerations involving tattoos) is that certain people may think that it’s a Jesuit-related tattoo. If your tattoo is not meant to be Jesuit-related, you may have to correct a number of people. This consideration is probably not a major one, but you should consider it.
 
I considered a Sacred Heart tattoo with the latin around it: Cor Iesu fornax ardens caritatis, miserere nobis.

That is, Heart of Jesus, burning furnace if charity, have mercy on us.
 
PolarGuy said:
Don’t get a tattoo.

The US military is now forbidding ALL new recruits from having tattoos. Have a tattoo? The US military will reject you, for that reason alone. All presently-enlisted soldiers are being required to self-report all existing tattoos, so it can be verified that soldiers are not getting new ones if they have any already.

Why? According to a friend/US Army Major, because the US military recognizes that tattoos are associated with gang culture, and “the army has had it with low class people covered with tats.”

I happen to agree. Call me names; say my opinion’s obnoxious; whatever. I think tattoos are foolish and low-class looking.
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That’s not accurate. The new rules limit the number or kind of tattoos and placement.
The new tattoo rules [for Army]:
  • Forbid tattoos on the head, face, neck, hands, fingers and wrists.
  • Allow no more than four hand-size tattoos below the elbow and knee.
  • Prohibit sleeve tattoos that cover a person’s entire arm.
  • Ban sexist, racist, indecent or extremist tattoos.
  • Bar enlisted soldiers from requesting commissions as officers if they have tattoos that violate the new policies.
  • Require commanders to document any tattoos that violate the new rules among current soldiers.
  • Order commanders to check their soldiers for new tattoos every year.
Click to expand...
 
PolarGuy said:
Don’t get a tattoo.

The US military is now forbidding ALL new recruits from having tattoos. Have a tattoo? The US military will reject you, for that reason alone. All presently-enlisted soldiers are being required to self-report all existing tattoos, so it can be verified that soldiers are not getting new ones if they have any already.

Why? According to a friend/US Army Major, because the US military recognizes that tattoos are associated with gang culture, and “the army has had it with low class people covered with tats.”

I happen to agree. Call me names; say my opinion’s obnoxious; whatever. I think tattoos are foolish and low-class looking.
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I don’t like tattoos personally and would recommend you not get one. I’m familiar with somebody failing to get a job within the past few years simply because they were tattooed.

Having said that, I think this information is incorrect. I think you can join the Army with tattoos presently, but they may not be visible while in uniform.
 
I guess if I’d read all the way to the end of the thread I’d realized that somebody had already posted that information. Sorry.
 
Yeoman said:
I guess if I’d read all the way to the end of the thread I’d realized that somebody had already posted that information. Sorry.
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Another voice offering the same information is welcome. You weren’t piling on or simply agreeing with someone. Plus, maybe someone with the username Yeoman might have more credibility with certain readers. 🙂
 
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