How my interfaith marriage inspired me to get inked
The decision to get a tattoo was actually a very spiritual one for me. Too corny to be true?
Well, let me back up a bit. I’ve probably wanted a tattoo since high school. Don’t ask me what first put the idea in my head because I don’t know. My mother had two or three discreetly-placed tattoos, and my younger sister would later add four to her body, so tattoos have definitely been acceptable on my side of the family.
The problem is, tattoos tend to be a charged subject that can evoke a host of emotional responses should you be naïve enough to innocently voice your new found desire for body art to your circle of friends. As a Christian, you are bound to hear from the following types:
- People who think tattoos are forbidden due to Leviticus 19:28. The problem with this argument is that these people never seem to think that the other things that are forbidden in Leviticus 19 are still under prohibition. Read the preceding two verses and you’ll see what I mean.
- People who think that tattoos are forbidden as a violation of 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, i.e. your body is God’s temple and tattoos are a way of defiling that temple. The problem with this argument is that while these people will merrily imprecate tattooing and body piercing, they never seem to think that ear piercings (for women, at least) defile God’s temple, which is mighty inconsistent. Why should one permanent mark on the body count as defiling God’s temple when another one doesn’t? Hypocrisy on their part may not automatically invalidate their argument—it could very well be that both tattoos and all forms of ear piercing are grievous to God—but it does make it that much harder to take their position seriously.
Then there’s the arguments that everyone who gets a tattoo is bound to face:
- “Tattoos are ugly and they look bad as you age.” The first part of that is just a matter of personal preference, and since everyone except Judi Dench and Julie Andrews seems to look worse as they age, I’m not so worried about the second part.
- “I don’t think tattoos are inherently stupid, but I think YOUR idea for a tattoo is stupid.” I changed my idea for what I wanted numerous times over the years, yet it always seemed that someone was unhappy with my new plans. I finally decided that getting a tattoo is a lot like planning a wedding: you should listen very politely to what everyone else wants you to do, then do whatever it is that you want to do. After all, it is your wedding tattoo.
Ultimately, none of these arguments had any staying power with me.
There was one spiritual argument that did appeal to me: in 1 Corinthians 7:4, Paul tells us that a wife “does not have authority over her body, but the husband does; likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.” (NRSV) I realized that I had no idea who I was going to wind up marrying, that I could wind up falling for a guy who very much disliked the idea of seeing tattoos on his wife’s body, and that wasn’t really fair to hypothetical future hubby. I decided to abstain from tattooing until I either had a husband to consult with on it or had reached my thirties as a single.
As it turns out, the husband I wound up with was highly enthusiastic about the prospect of his wife getting a tattoo, probably even more enthusiastic than I was. Still, I stalled on doing it. I knew exactly what I wanted and where I wanted it, but it seemed like a lot of money to spend on a rather frivolous body decoration, and I fretted about actually going through with such a permanent change to my body.
What finally pushed me to do it? Back to that spiritual part. Last Tuesday night, when I was in Washington state, my husband and I stayed up late chatting on G-Mail Chat and discussing some things concerning spirituality (and lack thereof) in our marriage. I may or may not blog more about the details on that later, but suffice it to say that we had something of a spiritual break-through. It was incredible. I felt closer to my husband than I had in years, even though we were over 2000 miles away from each other. That isn’t to say that our marriage was bad before; we aren’t on the rocks, we aren’t considering a divorce, and we haven’t been fighting. But our marriage was lacking a strong spiritual connection, and after many failed attempts to address that problem, I had sort of given up and resigned myself to not having that in my marriage.
After that break-through, I realized that I wanted to do something that would surprise my husband, something that would show my love for him. That was how I found myself in the tattoo shop recommended by my sister, asking to be inked with a small design in a pretty discreet spot that isn’t likely to be seen unless I show it. I can honestly say that my main reason for getting a tattoo was to show my husband my ardent love for him and I feel no regrets about it. If you could have seen my husband’s excitement when he first found my new tattoo, you would probably agree that it was the right move for us.
RELATED LINKS:
Should Christians Have Tattoos? by Mary Fairchild – Please read this before you decide to take me to task for getting a tattoo as a Christian.
Body Art: On being Mormon and getting Inked by G – An old discussion, but still a useful one.
Body Art: On being Mormon and getting Inked by G – An old discussion, but still a useful one.
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How my interfaith marriage inspired me to get inked — 23 Comments
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Sorry to be so negative.
And, I too have never seen a Batman tattoo on a woman. But we all know you are an original.
Your comment makes me want to grab a cigar and get a tattoo.