Tattoos and piercings

Same here; we're a weird family. My parents are still married, my wife and I are still married after almost 18 years, no tattoos or piercings. Makes me wonder how we've survived LOL

FenderTL5 said:

reading this thread makes me think, my family must be a rarity.
Neither my wife nor I have a tattoo.
I have three children, all over the age of 19, and none of them have a tattoo either.

Click to expand...

gurneyhalleck1 said:

Same here; we're a weird family. My parents are still married, my wife and I are still married after almost 18 years, no tattoos or piercings. Makes me wonder how we've survived LOL

Click to expand...

I look forward also to such weirdness with my wife.

gurneyhalleck1 said:

Same here; we're a weird family. My parents are still married, my wife and I are still married after almost 18 years, no tattoos or piercings. Makes me wonder how we've survived LOL

Click to expand...

Well, good for you, Sir!

gurneyhalleck1 said:

no tattoos or piercings.

Click to expand...

PS:

Maybe one day have bare earlobes will be an act of avant garde radicalism!

One never knows. But tonight my kids and I went out to grab some dinner. Mom is doing overtime at the hospital tonight.

One couple after another came in covered in hideous tattoos and pierced noses, tongues, giant frisbees in their earlobes. One blasted couple after another....

It just came to me that the world is in tatters. People look like irreverent Mad Max characters, defiling their God-given beautiful skin to look like something out of John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars. Defiled, damaged, marred, sad. It's just bizarre and primitive. There is a desire to look pagan now. It's as if there is a subtle pagan pre-Christian barbarism in people now.

My family looks like Little House on the Prairie wholesome surrounded by these Cyber Punk wasteland marauder-looking goons.

faroukfarouk said:

PS:

Maybe one day have bare earlobes will be an act of avant garde radicalism!

Click to expand...

gurneyhalleck1 said:

One never knows. But tonight my kids and I went out to grab some dinner. Mom is doing overtime at the hospital tonight.

One couple after another came in covered in hideous tattoos and pierced noses, tongues, giant frisbees in their earlobes. One blasted couple after another....

It just came to me that the world is in tatters. People look like irreverent Mad Max characters, defiling their God-given beautiful skin to look like something out of John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars. Defiled, damaged, marred, sad. It's just bizarre and primitive. There is a desire to look pagan now. It's as if there is a subtle pagan pre-Christian barbarism in people now.

My family looks like Little House on the Prairie wholesome surrounded by these Cyber Punk wasteland marauder-looking goons.

Click to expand...

Interesting turn of phrase there! rather thoughtful post.

I have to say, I log in today and read this thread, and suddenly I feel VERY unwelcome.

SeraphimSarov said:

I have to say, I log in today and read this thread, and suddenly I feel VERY unwelcome.

Click to expand...

why do you think that?

Because my arms are covered in tattoos. And I'm Orthodox. And my ROCOR priest couldn't care less. Oh, and I have a keloid from an ear piercing. If that makes me some kind of freak of nature that is defiled, I suppose TAW has changed over the years and I'm no longer welcome.

not at all, I think in the beginning of this someone pointed out Dcn Turbo Qualls, who has a ton of tattoos and his a lecturer and iconographer. no one is rejecting you simply because of tattoos and piercings

SeraphimSarov said:

I have to say, I log in today and read this thread, and suddenly I feel VERY unwelcome.

Click to expand...

Among some church circles it's actually quite widespread; I saw this quote, FYI:

QueenCat said:

Around here (Bible Belt), it is common, especially among evangelical Christians, for the girls under about 40 to have religious tattoos. More do than don't, especially when you get to the under 30 crowd. I hardly know any female at church that is under 30 that does not have a tattoo.

Click to expand...

forums dot thewelltrainedmind dot com

SeraphimSarov said:

Because my arms are covered in tattoos. And I'm Orthodox. And my ROCOR priest couldn't care less. Oh, and I have a keloid from an ear piercing. If that makes me some kind of freak of nature that is defiled, I suppose TAW has changed over the years and I'm no longer welcome.

Click to expand...

It really wouldn't matter if you were covered with tattoos coming into the Orthodox Church. I think the conversation recently has been about the position of the Church on one who is already Orthodox choosing to get tattoos.

Tattoos don't bother me at all, and I don't judge people for them. Farouk just seems to be saying that one is strange for not having them, and as it turns out, that is also not the experience of some of us in our circles.

While my family and friends are overwhelmingly not tattooed, I can assure you that the friends of my nephew and my cousin generally are. Fine group of people. But they do end o fight a certain social stigma because many of them have taken it to an extreme of body altering. But I don't agree with the automatic assumptions some apparently make of tattooed people (actually, almost no one in my circles are prejudiced against people with tattooes either, but since my cousin tends to post about it on FB I have to assume it's a problem somewhere.

The only exception would be the folks who go so far as to have scales tatoed on their bodies, cranial implants to resemble ridges, tongues split and teeth filed so that they actually look like a lizard. I have to admit, I'd probabaly assume SOMETHING was behind that kind of alteration.

But tattooes, piercing, gauges .... meh. Just not me.

I don't want you to feel unwelcome in TAW though. This thread is a disservice to our community if it's having that effect.

~Anastasia~ said:

It really wouldn't matter if you were covered with tattoos coming into the Orthodox Church. I think the conversation recently has been about the position of the Church on one who is already Orthodox choosing to get tattoos.

Tattoos don't bother me at all, and I don't judge people for them. Farouk just seems to be saying that one is strange for not having them, and as it turns out, that is also not the experience of some of us in our circles.

While my family and friends are overwhelmingly not tattooed, I can assure you that the friends of my nephew and my cousin generally are. Fine group of people. But they do end o fight a certain social stigma because many of them have taken it to an extreme of body altering. But I don't agree with the automatic assumptions some apparently make of tattooed people (actually, almost no one in my circles are prejudiced against people with tattooes either, but since my cousin tends to post about it on FB I have to assume it's a problem somewhere.

The only exception would be the folks who go so far as to have scales tatoed on their bodies, cranial implants to resemble ridges, tongues split and teeth filed so that they actually look like a lizard. I have to admit, I'd probabaly assume SOMETHING was behind that kind of alteration.

But tattooes, piercing, gauges .... meh. Just not me.

I don't want you to feel unwelcome in TAW though. This thread is a disservice to our community if it's having that effect.

Click to expand...

I'm not saying it's strange not to have them (the situation can differ markedly from one place to another, certainly) but I guess my point I'm suggesting is that it's widespread in some places.

SeraphimSarov said:

Because my arms are covered in tattoos. And I'm Orthodox. And my ROCOR priest couldn't care less. Oh, and I have a keloid from an ear piercing. If that makes me some kind of freak of nature that is defiled, I suppose TAW has changed over the years and I'm no longer welcome.

Click to expand...

This especially is the kind of thing where you need to place the emphasis on the real world, your actual priest, actual parish, etc. over the polarized opinions of people on the internet. This thread is filled with extreme views on both sides, the real world doesn't really operate like that and as you mentioned yourself, your priest doesn't care, so why should you worry? There is value in an online community like this, but this kind of thread isn't where it is found IMO.

Bessie said:

This especially is the kind of thing where you need to place the emphasis on the real world, your actual priest, actual parish, etc. over the polarized opinions of people on the internet. This thread is filled with extreme views on both sides, the real world doesn't really operate like that and as you mentioned yourself, your priest doesn't care, so why should you worry? There is value in an online community like this, but this kind of thread isn't where it is found IMO.

Click to expand...

Bessie:

Paul says that the kingdom of God is 'righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost' (Romans 14.17); and this is what really matters, not whether SeraphimSarov or you or I are tattooed or not.

faroukfarouk said:

Bessie:

Paul says that the kingdom of God is 'righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost' (Romans 14.17); and this is what really matters, not whether SeraphimSarov or you or I are tattooed or not.

Click to expand...

I'm not really sure how what I said to him may be in opposition to the scriptures you posted above... but my point is that he has access to real life guidance on this and doesn't need to use this forum to form his opinion about it.

Bessie said:

I'm not really sure how what I said to him may be in opposition to the scriptures you posted above... but my point is that he has access to real life guidance on this and doesn't need to use this forum to form his opinion about it.

Click to expand...

I guess I was more agreeing with you idea of opposing extreme views; the ink one way or another ought not to matter.

Well, I for one am VERY glad to see Seraphim Sarov posting as himself, and I had prayed so much for you, my brother! If this discussion gives you a wrong idea or impression, then I am so sorry. It's not worth it. As for my parish, it's almost all cradle immigrants, so has no bearing on your situation. But if you came into our Church, I can guarantee you no one would bat an eye (except just possibly a stray yiayia or two who, bless them, take it upon themselves to comment on any and everything, but it comes from love). You'd be more than welcome with us!

In fact, I hadn't thought of it until just now, but for a few months we had some young military men visiting with us, and they were tattooed. No one noticed or made comment. We're just a generally somewhat insulated community.

~Anastasia~ said:

Well, I for one am VERY glad to see Seraphim Sarov posting as himself, and I had prayed so much for you, my brother! If this discussion gives you a wrong idea or impression, then I am so sorry. It's not worth it. As for my parish, it's almost all cradle immigrants, so has no bearing on your situation. But if you came into our Church, I can guarantee you no one would bat an eye (except a stray yiayia who, bless her heart, takes it upon herself to comment on any and everything, but it comes from love). You'd be more than welcome with us!

In fact, I hadn't thought of it until just now, but for a few months we had some young military men visiting with us, and they were tattooed. No one noticed or made comment. We're just a generally somewhat insulated community.

Click to expand...

You're right; a significant proportion of military members (and these days of their spouses also) is traditionally tattooed.

ArmyMatt said:

I look forward also to such weirdness with my wife.

Click to expand...

Good for you, Sir!