What is wrong with those people who get tattoos?

[idav]

What is wrong with those people who get tattoos? Are they afraid of something, and so in order to feel confident they tattoo them selves?

Are people who are judgmental like that because of confidence issues? Why would I assume anything wrong with people with tattoos?

 

[Sonofason]

There is nothing wrong with people who get tattoos.
there are all manner of problems with your "source".

What are those problems?

 

[sovietchild]

Now, If I understand this statement correctly, I should be able to make the following two statements, and they should mean the same exact thing.

I am a Muslim because I surrender and submit to the one and only God.
I am a Believer because I surrender and submit to the one and only Allah.

Are these two statements identical?

Yes. People in Russian for example would call those people who believe in God "верующий" which means believer.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

Yes, I think I do.
Yes, all of them.
Yes, all the Yoruba.
Yes, all the Kalinga.
I don't know enough to really substantiate my claim. It is simply something which I have observed, and so far the shoe seems to fit all of them.

I'll give you points for consistency. It's one of the things I like about you, honestly. Shame we're often on the opposite sides of issues, but still...*tips hat*

First tell me why a whole people feels the need to blemish their skin with tattoos, then I will tell you why the whole people have an identity deficiency.

Not all people, or even MOST people, start from a position that this is inherently wrong, or a 'blemish'. My grandfather was a decorated soldier. A Kalinga warrior wears his 'medals' on his skin, permanently. My grandfather would put his medals in the cupboard most of the year (they now hang on my wall), whereas the Kalinga bore a permanent mark commemorating his actions.
Which is right? Neither. Both. To me there is no inherent difference in value.
The tattoo is deliberate and symbolic. A birth mark is a blemish, but speaks not in the least to the value of the person carrying it.

I am an over confident person with my identity, and I have no tattoos. I'm guessing you're a bit over confident as well, and so you have no need for tattoos either.

Aww...I'm not over-confident. I'm just confident enough.


It is extremely unlikely I'd ever get a tattoo. But as an act of solidarity, I could at least envisage it as possible. 99.5% won't happen.

Please give me an example of a reason for willingly getting a tattoo that you would think that I might not consider an adornment/decoration.

I suspect our definitions of adornment are going to differ. I offered Kalinga warriors as an example of this, whereby a tattoo is roughly equivalent to a medal in our society. But you may very well see medals as adornment as well.
In some societies, tattoos are used to indicate marital status. This would include at least parts of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea that I've had direct exposure to. Like we would use a wedding ring.

This is what I read that caught my attention:
“When I left my village I was ashamed of my tattoos. My daughter married a American solider, so when my husband died I moved to New York with them. It was there I realised that tattoos were often associated with criminals. I felt embarrassed and tried to cover them up. But later people would ask me about more and more about my culture, and they wanted to see my tattoos. I felt proud to be a Kalinga women.”

It caught my attention too, but we may interpret it differently.
She didn't have the tattoos applied for reasons of pride, nor lack of self confidence. Rather, they were applied as part of her culture's norm. When she moved to a different culture, she felt that these tattoos were judged by a different measure. Rather than being seen as normal, or a mark of her womanhood, she believed they were associated with criminality. Later, she realised that some/many people were NOT judging her negatively, and she was able to speak about the meaning of the tattoo's. She felt pride at this.

It seems that in all these examples, the tattoo increases the persons feelings of self worth. Why does a person desire greater feelings of self worth if they are not lacking that to begin with?

Apart from anything else, you are conflating the increased feeling of belonging/self worth that these can bring and the reason people get them in the first place. I don't believe the Kalinga woman got the tattoos because she was lacking in self worth. I believe she got them because it was the cultural norm in her society, and a way to mark her as a woman (rather than a girl). A rite of passage. All societies have these markers, although they vary greatly. I gave my wife a ring on our wedding day, and both thought about it, and can defend the symbolism of this. However, I am self-reflective enough to know why I chose this symbol over some others.
If my wife and I had chosen to etch our rings on our fingers, couldn't it simply be a way of permanently denoting the bond, rather than a ring which can easily be taken off?

I am not really sure what God had in mind when he made the covenant with Abraham that involved the circumcision of ALL of Abraham's male descendants. Perhaps it was like a mark or a tattoo, something to set that group apart from all other groups. I really don't know the answer. I don't really understand that covenant that God had made with Abraham.

Obviously it's difficult for me to consider this in spiritual terms. I tend to think more along historical lines. But I think the guess you've made about setting the group apart is probably close to the mark.
Assume for a second you don't believe in the Abrahamaic God. Or that instead of circumcision, that God demanded a tattoo as a permanent mark of commitment.
Do you not then see a reason beyond mere decoration for a tattoo?

And I see piercings as being pretty much the same as tattoos.

All piercings? Ear rings on women?
Not doubting you, just clarifying.

 

[Kemosloby]

What is wrong with those people who get tattoos? Are they afraid of something, and so in order to feel confident they tattoo them selves?

Because everybody on TV is getting them.

 

[YmirGF]

Personally, I'm not into tattoos and would never seriously consider getting one. That said, I don't think there is anything wrong with people who have them. Different strokes and all...

 

[Smart_Guy]

It's okay. I too am against tattoos and believe they are forbidden, but it is not necessary that something is wrong with who gets it. Some people, like many others with other stuff, simply believe it is okay and it looks beautiful to their taste, so they get them.

In the religious part, Islam teaches that "to each their religion/belief", so I believe I should respect that.

It's okay, give them the benefit of the doubt

 

[Father Heathen]

What is wrong with those people who get tattoos? Are they afraid of something, and so in order to feel confident they tattoo them selves?

When did you stop beating your wife?

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Because everybody on TV is getting them.

Some of us with them watch very little TV. Some watch none at all.

 

[Jumi]

Because everybody on TV is getting them.

What about people before TV was commonplace?

 

[Brickjectivity]

There is one tattoo I'd get, but I don't think it exists. If there were an image that encoded all kinds of McGuyver info like the info in the periodic table, scientific constants etc. that would be worth getting. Also I'd want it to look cool like a tree or something.

Its because I saw this film called Six Days Seven Nights where a man and woman are stranded together on an unpopulated island and she says to him "Aren't you one of those guys with skills who get sent into the wilderness with a pocket knife and a q-tip and they build a shopping mall?" It made me think...yeah. I'm supposed to be able to do that, and so I want a tattoo with enough information in it to help me build a shopping mall with only a pocket knife and a q tip. Of course I could perhaps just memorize it all.

Also if tattoos weren't so permanent and would fade I'd be more willing to try them.

 

[Kelly of the Phoenix]

Wouldn't mind someone using magic markers. Not into permanent and ... needles ... *shudders*

 

[McBell]

**climbs aboard pontoon boat**
The bull **** getting deep!

 

[NadiaMoon]

Because some people find that adorning their bodies with beautiful pieces of art is aesthetically pleasing and an expression of themselves?

 

[viole]

Your post is off topic. If you wonna talk about women who cover up and look like Batman VS. women who dress almost naked and look like you know what, then make a topic about it.

Well, there is a whole lot of grey between being half naked and look like Batman. How do Muslim men dress? Half naked or like Batman?

By the way, the argument about tatoos would be moot for women, at least, if they dress like Batman.

So, why don't you reccomend the same dress code for men, too, and be done with it?

Ciao

- viole

 

[Rational Agnostic]

What is wrong with those people who get tattoos? Are they afraid of something, and so in order to feel confident they tattoo them selves?

Nothing wrong with people who get tattoos. I myself do not have any, but people who do get them are really no different than people who do not. Also many people get tattoos to memorizlied loved ones who have passed away. Certainly no vanity, fear, or insecurity in that.

 

[sovietchild]

I believe everyone is a salesman. Everyone has something to sell. People who get tattoos might think that those tattoos could help them sell their product faster. Like some one else said, It's like a lottery ticket - easy way out. Life is a gamble after all. You gamble everyday. Maybe they are just trying to gain hope so they would be more aggressive in life. Once person loses hope who knows what can happen to them, some people go insane. Everyone wants to feel important.

I believe the reason why those people who get tattoos is because they are getting ready to die.

 

[columbus]

believe the reason why those people who get tattoos is because they are getting ready to die.

That's a pretty darned irrational belief. Spending a bunch of money on an art piece that goes to your grave with you suggests the opposite to me.
Tom

 

[sovietchild]

That's a pretty darned irrational belief. Spending a bunch of money on an art piece that goes to your grave with you suggests the opposite to me.
Tom

Study shows that tattoos are linked to depression and depression leads to suicide.

Some people tattoo them selves because of the past anyways. And people who are depressed usually spend time thinking about the past.

 

[SkepticThinker]

I have a tattoo to honor my father, who passed away 5 years ago. Every time I see it, I'm reminded of him and how much we loved each other.

If you think there is something wrong with me for that, then so be it.