Why Get a Tattoo or Piercing?

tattoo # 4 - finished! (Photo credit: Tracy Lee)

Aesthetically alter the body
Remember a special event or period of transition in one's life
Demonstrate a rite of passage
Express inclusion in a group (professional, criminal, economic, religious, etc.)
Express exclusion from a group, or one's individuality

Islam (Against)

In the book of Sunni Religions, it is forbidden to mutilate or maim one's body.
Tattooing and piercings are considered to be disrupting the creation of God
- Surah 4 Verse 117-120
Also, Islam condemns those who chose to pierce themselves or get a tattoo
The Holy Qur'an considers body modifications to be inspired by Satan, and therefore evil.
Modern Muslims do tolerate Henna tattoos which are non permanent top skin layer tatoos using henna paste product
Tattooing involves changing the creation of Allah
An individual who makes these kinds of bodily changes should be cursed.
tattoos and piercings are an “unnecessary intrusion, alteration and defacement of Allah’s creation”
Such alterations are considered to be inspired by Satan. One then believes you are cursed for eternity or overcome temptation.

Christianity (moderate)

Against Body Art

Tattoos and piercings are a form of pagan worship
The body is a temple that God demanded not to be altered.
- Leviticus 19:28: Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord
- 1 Corinthians 3:16: Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
- 1 Corinthians 6:19: Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
- 1 Corinthians 3:17: If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple are you.

In Favor of Body Art

"Christianity is a sacramental religion that employs different rituals to outwardly mark an inward transformation" (Keel)
God did not explicitly forbid body art
There is nothing in the New Testament that indicates body art is wrong.
In context, Leviticus19:28 is God advising the Isrealites not to take on pagan cultures.

The New Testament states that God does not want individuals to mark their own body.
It is demeaning to mark one's body since it was used in past rituals and at times used to mark slaves
It is stated as one of the commandments that God is against the desecratin of the body and it is prohibited
Verse within Leviticus is one of the main and only verses in the Old Testament that refers to actions of one's body
Holocust
- The victims of the Holocaust were identified by the tattoos the Nazi's engraved on their forearm
- Tattoos are considered a reminder to some Jews about a very difficult time that happened within their culture.
Beliefs and misconceptions
- If a person does get a tattoo, they cannot be buried in a Jewish cemetary
  - FALSE: according to Rabbi Jeffrey Wolfson Goldwasser, although some orthodox Jews may have specific sections in which people with tattoos or piercings are buried.
- Piercings are accepted within Judaism for women. Males with piercings are looked down upon and are discouraged from getting them.