Jason Hood’s work is some of the best out there, in my opinion. And he decided to offer his contribution on tattoos with, well, flair.
Up to this point I’m merely playing on Matt’s points. But I do want to suggest a way to advance the conversation. I have two directions. First, if we tat, we should probably do it with excellence. In fact, I’d love to see Christian tattoo academies. (Not least so that people could learn to do Hebrew and Greek correctly. Very serious question: what’s the ratio between evangelical liberal arts schools and trade schools? What does that say about our view of working with and on our bodies?) Can’t we raise funds to start such joints in, say, Grand Rapids, Colorado Springs, Wheaton, or Branson? Couldn’t Thomas Kinkade, Rev. Finster’s estate, and Mako join forces for the greater good?
Ain’t no tat like a Christian tat, cuz a Chrsitian tat comes in matte. (And complete with “master highlights” for a few hundred bucks more.)
Seriously, read the whole thing.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
Watch the Trailer for My First Book
I wonder about the idea of “Christian trade schools” in the same way I wonder about “Christian schools,” perhaps in spite of my education background (rather than because of it). My education was and is still solid, and I do believe one of the best out there. I don’t doubt this is partially due to a certain commitment to Christian ideals.
But I do wonder about this sort of practice. “Christianizing” everything explicitly is an interesting thing. It deserves more thought, I think, than a comment can give it. If I had the time right now, perhaps I’d work it into a post of my own. Maybe another time.
But the short is this: what does the Christian do with large industries? It is difficult to go to examples in the Scriptures, where families seem to have certain jobs (carpenters in the case of Jesus, tent-makers in the case of Paul), but were not with a company (Jesus didn’t work for Fred’s Carpentry down the street, nor did Paul apply for a job at REI or an REI manufacturing plant).
Maybe education shouldn’t be considered the same way that a business is. Maybe those questions are separate. But they do strike me as similar.
Do I concern myself with whether an auto body shop is “Christian” before I go? I tend to value both honesty (don’t try to sell me stuff I don’t need just because I lack knowledge) and quality work (does the ‘fix’ last more than a week?). The former is often associated with “Christians,” at least I tend to think so, though unfortunately the latter is not so often connected (particularly in the arts–film, music, etc).
Lots of thought to do there, though.
Sorry if this was rambling. These next few weeks are absolutely nuts for me.