[Krimel to Khaled regarding tattoos] Some of the baby that gets toss with the theological bathwater is stuff like the body is the temple of the Lord. I wouldn't mind getting that one back out of the yard
[Arlo] Can't resist jumping in here. For me, the art of tattooing is precisely because the body is a "temple". They can be healing, transformational and breathtaking. I've seen tattoos that rank up there with the best "art" I've seen. Trouble is, as with any "art", modern culture has turned tattooing into a consumeristic object. I've seen people walk into tattoo parlors and spend a few minutes browsing "examples" and say "give me that". The impetus is "just to have ink", rather than find and express some unique, personal, artistic symbolism. That is, people mistake "having ink" with "having GOOD ink", and the result is that many people end up with crappy tattoos that they regret and end up spending a lot of bucks to get removed. I see the same thing with body piercing. Moreover, "piercing" originated as a very spiritual, ritual-laden act that usually carried some strong social and cultural meaning. For a while, it became a form of social rebellion, where the act was simply undertaken to demonstrate aversion to social conformity. Nowadays, it is an empty cosmetic trip towards body commodification, where it is done "because it is cool" and that's about it. Some still seek "shock", but this ends up being a watered-down, mostly empty shell from the original meaning-laden experience. Of course, there are still many who ink or pierce in very meaningful, artistic, spiritual-transformative ways. But the majority are kids for whom it is just another "IZOD" or "Louis Vuitton Handbag", a fashion commodity to be pranced out for the sole purpose of trying to "be cool". Hell, I remember the year that "lower-back tattoos" became the "must-have fashion accessory of the year". As for prison or gang tattoos, think of these as an "advance warning system" for who not to pick a fight with at the bar. Years past, you could accidentally flip-off a Pagan (around here) and wind up jumped in the lot as you left. Now, its obvious who they are, and it makes it easy to steer a wide berth. Heck, that's what they WANT. But tattooing in this regard is akin to "wearing colors", its an identity marker. I've seen in the news where varsity football squads in high school tattoo their mascot on their arms. It forms solidarity, group cohesion, and clearly demarcates an "in" and an "out". You know, maybe we should all get wrench/flower ZMM tattoos. (I'm sure at least one among us must have already done so). moq_discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
