All the religions based on The Holy Bible, like Christianism, both Fundamentalists and Catholics along with Judaism have a common view that getting a tattoo done is wrong. However, what is surprising is that the reason for considering a tattoo to be forbidden differs between all these three religions.It is interesting to note the beliefs and view points each of these religions hold. Let us have a peek into why tattooing is prohibited in these religions and what is the reason behind the prohibition.
Fundamentalist Christians believe that getting a tattoo is forbidden as it is considered to be a "Pagan Practice". Although most fundamentalists agree that there is no such statement in The Holy Bible that prohibits tattoos are tattooing, this being viewed as a Pagan Practice is good enough for fundamentalist Christians to be against tattooing.
Fundamentalist Christians believe that the whole of the Bible comprises of the New Testament and the New Testament does not have any references, neither positive nor negative with regards to tattooing. Since the practice of tattooing is something that was and is followed by the Pagans, is the single main reason for the objection against the art.
For Catholics, the Old Testament is as sacred as the New Testament and hence the Catholic negativity towards tattooing is based on the scripture passages as in Leviticus 19:28 which reads thus: "You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead, nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves..."
However most of the Catholics today consider it to be a matter of personal choice and interpretation. The Catholic population of modern times believes that though tattooing is a prohibited art form it is still not as sinful as many might think it to be.
Jews believe that the scriptures of the Old Testament to be the word of God and commandments that are to be adhered to the T, tattoo is a strict "no no" for all the Jews. This commandment against any form of desecration of the body is viewed as the major reason as to why the observant Jews were tattooed in all the concentration camps during the Holocaust.
Contrary to many people's beliefs, this tattooing act was a planned attempt to separate the observant Jews from their God even if it meant unwillingly.
In Jewish faith, desecration of the body is such a grave sin, that a person, who has tattoos, is denied burial in some of the Jewish cemeteries. Though in modern times, tattooing is still an issue; the resistance to this art form is fewer than before. It is only the most orthodox Jews who reject tattooing.
All of the three major Biblical religions discussed above are of the opinion that it is wrong to get tattoos done. However the reason for this denial is different between all the three religions. The two major factors in determining what one's religious stand on tattoos is what one's religion teaches about tattoos and what the basis of that teaching is.
These two reasons are the most important reasons, why a person should have a tattoo done or not. This is irrespective of which faith one follows and how observant he or she is in following the faith.
Being able to have a tattoo was not always a good thing. Hopefully this article shed some light on the religious types of tattoos.