I was sitting in religion class and the topic was about judgment from the SDA church. Brittany Flud, a student in my class, talked about her experience being judged for her tattoo. Brittany is an SDA. As you can hopefully see in the picture, the tattoo is beautiful. For her this tattoo is part of her culture. In her family it is tradition to get a tattoo of something that relates to their family culture. Oh and I forgot to tell you she is Hawaiian. Hawaiians are known for being very spiritual and religious. But like all cultures they have their ultra conservative and ultra liberals.

The turtle represents gentleness and simplicity. Her family themselves designed the turtle. Many of her family members have similar tattoos representing their immediate family and culture. One church member told Brittany that when it was time to go to heaven God would not open his arms to her because of the tattoo. First of all… we will have new bodies when we go to heaven. So I am not sure how that is even an issue. Secondly Jesus’ disciples were mostly rough fishermen. And likely had tattoos themselves. And they are the ones Jesus chose to be his closest friends. And represent him to the world.

So let me ask you this. How is this different than jewelry or even clothing? Yes we can change those whenever we like. But people still choose things to wear that represent their interests and who they are without it making them a bad person. In all honesty the people telling her that her will not go to heaven are the ones who have the wrong image of Christianity. We are meant to accept people where they are like God accepts us where we are in our walk with Christ. What causes more harm to other people? Being mean and critical? Or having a pretty tattoo on their skin. Yes some tattoos can be offensive to others. But like anything in life, if you choose to display beautiful, uplifting things, is that a bad thing? Maybe it will be that pretty, uplifting tattoo that beings someone closer to God. Take someone who has a cross tattoo or a verse tattoo for example. What if someone who is thinking of committing suicide gets a smile from that person and all they remember is their smile and tattoo? And what if that is what saves their life? Does that then make that person with the tattoo wrong to have it if it saved someone else? Obviously it is what is in someone’s heart and how they treat others that matters.