The Spirit of It

A friend of mine recently posted her viewpoint on Facebook about a church congregation in Anaheim, CA., that had the opportunity to tattoo the church logo, (a heart inside a four-quarter circle) on their forearms. This act was offered during service and was to represent each person’s commitment to the church and to God. My friend stated that "tattoos were for pagans" and asked people to "separate themselves."

She received a number of responses, both positive and negative. While I support each person’s prerogative to express them self, freely and openly, it is important to differentiate between ‘law and personal preference.” Many responses to her entry quoted Christian scripture against tattooing the body. One was: Leviticus 19:28 which says, "Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print or tattoo any marks upon you: I am the Lord.

I think that like many things taken literally in the Bible, modern understanding of it is limited and incomplete. If we were to remember the 'spirit of the message,' which I feel addresses doing no harm to your body on purpose, then, there is no judgment of right or wrong. Christianity only holds one piece to the puzzle of the Divine and dictatorship never lasts.

Additionally, my friend is the wife of a minister. The fact that she used the terminology of “pagan,” as further demeaning anyone who is of a different religious background than herself, is more disturbing than a poor judgment call on body art. How is this any different than the Muslim teaching of “hating infadels," anyone who is different than they are?

So, on that note, the quote of the day is:

“The underlying theme that God has tried to share with “the children of earth” is that of creating love and unity in all things, not separation and hate!” tc