Ember Saturday
St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi - Virgin
J.M.J.
THE MORALITY OF TATTOOS AND BODY PIERCING
by Father Peter Joseph
Many upright people are repelled by modern fads and fashions, such as
tattooing, multiple earrings and other body piercing, but feel
unequipped to give a clear judgment on the morality of such
practices, or to rebut the charge that they are elevating their
personal preferences into a moral code. In this article, I will set
out some criteria that are relevant to making a moral judgment on
these things.
In the Old Testament, the Chosen People were specifically commanded:
"You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh&or tattoo any marks
upon you: I am the Lord" (Leviticus 19:28). Inspired by God, St. Paul
admonishes us: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy
Spirit within you, which you have from God?" (1 Cor 6:19). Being a
temple of the Holy Spirit, we owe our body due care and protection
and decorum. In some cultures, a special bodily mark or design -- on
the forehead, for example -- signifies a certain attainment or
marital status, or whatever, and is socially acceptable. Ethiopian
Christians, to name one group, wear tattoo crosses on their
foreheads. In Samoa, it was once a widespread custom to tattoo the
eldest son or daughter of the local ruling family. In Western
societies, earrings and makeup are acceptable as a part of feminine
fashions and public presentability. But certain types of body
piercing and decorations in our society are extreme and unjustified,
and some of them are motivated by anti-Christian sentiments.
It would be impossible to give black-and-white judgments on all
bodily decorations. But we can point to a few negative aspects that
should be of concern to a Christian. Unless otherwise stated, this
article will refer to Western societies only. I will treat the more
serious concerns first and then the less serious.
1. Diabolical images. Tattoos of demons are quite common, yet no
Christian should ever sport an image of a devil or a Satanic symbol.
2. Exultation in the ugly. This is a mark of the Satanic, which hates
the beauty of God's creation and tries to destroy it and to ruin
others' appreciation of it. More than just being ugly, some body
piercing is the expression of delight in being ugly.
We recognize bad taste in tattoos, rings and studs, by looking at
their nature, size, extent and place on the body. Ironically, even
florid and colorful tattoos fade over time and end up looking dark
and dreary. When one considers how, in cσncєnтrαтισn cαмρs, prisoners
were treated like animals and branded on their arm with a number, it
is amazing to think that people today adopt similar markings as if
they were fashionable or smart. This is truly the sign of a return to
barbarity, the behavior of people who do not have any sense of the
dignity of the human person.
3. Self-mutilation and self-disfigurement. This is a sin against the
body and against the Fifth Commandment. Some body piercing verges on
self-mutilation. At best, multiple body piercing is self-inflicted
abuse. A form of self-hatred or self-rejection motivates some to
pierce themselves or decorate themselves in a hideous and harmful
fashion. The human body was not made by God to be a pin cushion or a
mural.
4. Harm to health. Doctors have spoken publicly on this health issue.
In 2001, researchers at both the University of Texas and the
Australian National University reported on harm to health caused by
tattoos and body piercing. Some earrings (on the navel, tongue or
upper ear) are unhealthy and cause infections or lasting harm such as
deformities of the skin. They can also poison the blood for some time
(septicaemia). Certain piercings (e.g., on the nose, eyebrows, lip,
tongue) do not close over even when the object is removed. Such body
piercing, therefore, is immoral, since we should not endanger health
without a reasonable motive. When done unhygienically, tattoos and
piercing cause infection. A used instrument, if not properly
sterilized, can transmit hepatitis or HIV.
Some have hoped to avoid health dangers by getting "henna" tattoos,
which are painted on rather than done with needles. Henna staining is
an ancient Hindu wedding custom of painting floral designs on the feet
and hands. A German Medical Association report this year found that
tourists returning home with hennas done in Bali and Bangkok, among
other places, were going to the doctor because of severe skin
infections and sometimes lifelong allergies. In some cases also, the
coloring agent used meant that the tattoo faded away, but after
several weeks of skin irritation, the design reappeared in the form
of a reddish tattoo, often very painful for the patient. Allergies
developed from 12 hours to a week after the application of the henna,
causing intense itching, redness, blistering and scaling.
5. A desire to shock and repel. It can be appropriate to shock
people, as for example, when one recounts the plight of poor and
hungry people, or protests against crimes or terrible exploitation.
This can be a healthy thing, when done properly and with due care, to
arouse people out of complacency, so that they realize something must
be done. But to shock people for the thrill of shocking people, with
no intention to promote truth and goodness, is not a virtue, but a
sign of a perverted sense of values.
In evaluating tattoos under this heading of repulsiveness, we look at
the nature of the images, the size and number of the tattoos, and
their place on the body. In evaluating piercings, we consider
similarly their extent and location on the body.
6. Indecency and irreverence. It is always immoral to get or exhibit
tattoos of indecent images or phrases, or derisive figures of Our
Lord or His Mother or holy things.
7. Signs of a sɛҳuąƖ disorientation. Pirates used to be the only
males who wore earrings (for whatever reason!) while sailors and
side-show freaks were just about the only people with tattoos. What
was once so restricted has now spread to wider sections of the
community. In the 1970s, an earring worn by a man in the left ear, or
the right, or both, was a code-sign of his personal orientation and
thus a form of picking up partners. As such, it was blatantly
immoral, and generally an advertisement of one's immorality. Earrings
in boys and men are so common now that they have lost that
significance, but they are never positively demanded by social
requirements, as a suit and tie are socially required on certain
formal occasions. Even admitting the lack of clear symbolism now, I
would expect any seminary to tell any inquirer that he would have to
remove any earring or stud before entering, and question him as to
when he started wearing it and why. A seminarian or priest sporting
an earring is not socially acceptable in the Catholic Church. A good
number of parishioners would wonder about the deeper reasons or
motivation. No one in such a public position starts to wear an
earring without making a deliberate decision. As a wise old Jesuit
priest said to me once, "No one changes externals without having
changed internals." It is regarded as what people call "making a
statement." The same code of expected conduct applies to men in other
professions, such as policemen or teachers.
Employers and principals should make rules outlawing any such Jєωelry
for male staff and students. Especially for the young, such rules
protect them both from themselves and from peer pressure. The fact is
that, still today, earrings are prevalent among females, and in
minority use among males.
8. Unsuitability. Sometimes people tattoo themselves with a big image
of a crucifix or other holy pictures. The human body is a most
unsuitable place for such an image, even if it be a beautiful one.
Whenever these people go swimming, for example, they are exhibiting
this image in an inappropriate fashion. No priest would ever go down
to a shopping center in Mass vestments, not because there is
something wrong with vestments, but because there is a time and a
place for donning special religious symbols.
9. Vanity. Some men in particular tattoo their upper and lower arms
in order to be ostentatious and impressive. It is a means of drawing
attention to themselves. No one who meets them can fail to notice the
tattoos -- to the point at which it is in fact a constant distraction.
It detracts from the person, and focuses attention too much on the
body's external appearance. The same can be said for a stud on the
tongue, a ring in the nose, or earrings all over one's ears and
eyebrows. These are not part of our culture; at most, they are part
of a certain subculture, a minority affectation, devoid of religious
or positive social significance. No one is saying it is wrong to
dress up, but here it is a question of moderation and discretion.
Sacred Scripture implicitly recognizes that it is good for a bride to
be adorned for her husband when the heavenly Jerusalem is compared to
such a woman (Apoc. 21:2). It is good for a lady to be well dressed
and to use makeup when the occasion calls for it, but everyone
recognizes when the embellishment has gone over the top and makes her
look seductive or cheap.
10. Immaturity and imprudence. An action acceptable or indifferent in
itself can become wrong if the intention or motive is wrong. Some
young people adopt outrageous fashions out of an immature desire to
rebel against society or against their parents. Such disobedience
against parents is sinful. Some do it out of an immature desire to
conform to their friends, and others out of an equally immature
desire to stick out from everyone around them. Some do it out of
boredom, because it is something different, because it gives them a
thrill, because it is something for their friends to admire and
comment on. Mindless following of fads is always the mark of
immaturity. For young people who live at home under their parents'
authority, it is enough if their parents express their disapproval of
such fashions to know that they should not go ahead. Some young people
go to further extremes and vie with each other as to who can pierce
whatever part of the body the most. Parents must forbid such behavior
absolutely.
Young people can hardly justify the big expenditure (not to mention
the pain) involved in getting a tattoo. It is also unjustified and
just plain silly to mark your body for life with images of no great
worth or with the name of one's current lover. A recent example I
heard of gives an idea of the time and expense: a young girl had one
arm tattooed up and down. It required two four-hour sessions and cost
$1,000 (American).
Tattoos are more serious than other adornments since they are more or
less permanent marks on the body. Many a man or woman have been
tattooed gladly in youth, but regretted it not so many years later
when they came to regard it as an embarrassing disfigurement. Once
they mature, they pay dearly for the luxury of getting rid of it. The
removal of tattoos is expensive and difficult -- and can leave scars.
The removal of big tattoos requires surgery under a general
anaesthetic, with all the potential risks, plus the significant
medical and hospital costs. The removal of large tattoos can leave
big segments of the skin permanently disfigured or blotched, like
skin that has been burnt. Many adults find themselves ineligible for
some jobs, because businesses will not employ them with their hands
covered in tattoos, impossible to conceal years after their youthful
folly.
UNIVERSAL CRITERIA
In any culture, things can arise, become acceptable, and become part
of the culture -- but this does not necessarily make them right. Here
are some examples from foreign cultures that I regard as equally
wrong. In one tribe of Africa, women wear gigantic and heavy earrings
that change the shape of the earlobes. In another place, women put
coils around their necks and elongate them unnaturally, or put plates
in their mouths to make the lips protrude some inches. In China, there
was once the practice of binding girls' feet tightly to stop them from
growing, because small, dainty feet were admired. These and other
drastic alterations to the natural growth of the human body must be
judged immoral, as forms of abuse springing from vanity.
It is not always possible to draw an exact line and say where the
bounds of moderation have been exceeded. But this does not mean that
there is no line. No one can define at what exact temperature a day
passes from being cool to cold, but everyone knows that when the
temperature is near zero, it is cold beyond dispute. Let us never
fall for the ploy that tries to argue from borderline or difficult
cases that there are no guidelines or principles, and that there is
no such thing as a just mean or moderation, just because they are
hard to define.
The human body is meant to be treated with care, not maltreated or
disfigured. Its dignity and beauty must be kept and cultivated, in
order that it be an expression of the deeper beauty of the soul.
Father Peter Joseph is vice-rector and lecturer in dogma at Vianney
College, the diocesan seminary of Wagga Wagga, Australia.
Topic: The morality of tattoos, body piercing (Read 831 times)