Tats and piercings not for me
The latest fad for men appears to be beards — including me. I hate shaving. But I also don’t enjoy trimming a beard. So, I have gotten into the modus operandi of growing a beard for most of the year, but shaving it off for Memorial Day and Veterans Day, when I don my Air Force uniform and speak or play my horns at some events. Works for me.
Fads change over the years. Fat ties become thin ties only to return to fat ties some years later. I remember ironing my jeans in high school, and now the “torn” look is in. One can pay a hundred bucks to buy jeans that are already full of tears and holes! (Heck, just send me the nice jeans. I will rip them up for you for almost no charge.) Bras used to be hidden. Now, if worn, they are flaunted under or through blouses.
Men have gone from short buzz cuts to long, braided hair to the bald look earlier than God intended their heads to become. I remember the mohawk haircut, and some in the music industry are spending lots of money for some sort of weird haircut. Women try everything to change the look of their hair — colorizing, very short cuts and more. Of course, in today’s climate, one can change their gender at will, so some women have short hair to state their impending or already completed metamorphosis to a man.
The real change in appearance over the years has been in decorating and/or piercing one’s body. Tattoos are burned in everywhere on the body — male and female — with some wild and crazy creations that can cost hundreds of dollars (unless you get it done in prison). I am amazed at how many young women are not just getting one cute tattoo but are emblazing wild designs all over their body (and in some locations that I won’t describe in detail, since this is a family paper).
I am perplexed at tattoos on some Black men and women. Since the ink is dark, one can’t even determine what the design is. Maybe we need white ink for dark-skinned folks? Of course, in my prison ministry, I have seen lots of tats when I visit inmates. They represent, in many cases, gangs or special groups. There are the neo-Nazis with their swastikas boldly emblazoned on their neck or forehead. And there are cartel symbols featured on Mexican prisoners, visually announcing, “Don’t mess with me.”
I remember one visit in an Arkansas prison. I was in a cellblock with about 60 prisoners and spied a young man, maybe in his early 20s, walking near me. He had no shirt on, and every square inch of his upper torso was tattooed. I mean every square inch — even the top of his fingers, his eyelids — everywhere. I decided to chat with him, so I approached him and said, “You know, I always wanted to get one small tat, but you have really gone overboard. Did some of those hurt?”
He politely replied, “Well, yes, some of them. The top of my fingers hurt quite a bit, and my eyelid tats hurt to have done.” As I marveled at all of the designs, figurines and symbols on his body, I noticed that he had “666” tattooed on the fleshy base of his thumb on his left hand. A Christian well aware of biblical text, I said, pointing to the triple number, “Do you know what that means?” He smiled and said, “Yes. I tried that Jesus thing, and it didn’t work for me. One night Satan came to me in a dream and said I needed to follow him. I could hate folks, even kill someone, and there would be no judgment!”
I was amazed at his candor. I said, “Well, you are in prison, so how is that working for you so far?” His buddy next to him added, “Hey, he has a good point!” I so wanted to sit and talk with this young man, but it was time for my visit to end and my Christian Motorcyclists team to move on to another cellblock. I smiled at him and said, “Well, my young friend, I strongly suggest you think about this: Remove that tat and seek the Lord again!” Who knows what happened after I left. (I got the heck out of there fast!)
Body piercings are another thing that drives me nuts. Even cute young girls have nose rings, lip rings or eyebrow rings, as if that enhances their beauty. And there are, I am told, places on some female bodies sporting piercings that I don’t even want to see, thank the Lord. I am pretty sure a large amount of alcohol was part of the reason someone allowed another person to pierce body parts, some places unmentionable in detail.
When my wife and I were living in California (arguably the weirdest state in our nation), we took the South Korean girl we were helping raise at the time — Sarah must have been 13 or so — to Universal Studios, the theme park featuring Hollywood movies (“Waterworld,” “Backdraft,” “Back to the Future” and more). She was excited, of course, and we had a ball. We went to see the “Waterworld” area featuring live stunts from the movie, and we sat behind a guy and his girlfriend on a large elevated bench.
Sarah’s eyes got the size of a pie plate. The man in front of her, maybe 25 years old, had shaved his head, and he had metal “bones” laced in the skin all over his skull. His ears had HUGE metal earrings wedged into the flap on the lower part of the ear. He had a ring in his nose, rings in his eyebrows and probably piercings in places too horrid to imagine. I smiled at the young Korean teen next to me and said, “Would you want to do some of that, Sarah?” She, of course, giggled and grimaced and said, “No way!” (I wouldn’t want to have been near that man in a lightning storm. Shocking!)
My son, who is basically a very conservative, well-mannered young man, even tried body piercing once. Brian was in the police academy when his drill instructor noticed that my son seemed to try to talk with his lips nearly closed. He demanded that Brian open his mouth wide and, sure enough, my progeny had pierced his tongue with a stud! OMG. He was told in “no uncertain terms” to get rid of it, which he did, and he has not ventured into the piercing world since. He does have two small tattoos, one on his shoulder and one under his arm, but they are (for the most part) hidden. Thank God I didn’t have a wild daughter like some of the young girls I have seen recently.
I still long for ONE tat — maybe a small American flag or “Judy” on my shoulder (that can be dangerous for young couples, but since we are both septuagenarians and have been married for 51-plus years, I guess it is safe to put her name on my body). The New Testament does not address tattoos directly, but our bodies are “temples of the Lord.” Leviticus 19:28 in the Old Testament forbade the Hebrews from getting tattoos, but it was due to pagan influences at the time. Many of my Christian Motorcyclists friends have tattoos that are religious in nature (crosses, a wreath of thorns, an open Bible).
I think I will remain un-tattooed and un-pierced and let Jesus judge those who choose to decorate their bodies in such a manner. Besides, I am a wuss. I couldn’t take the pain! And what if the artist misspelled something? Removing tats is no fun, I am told. Ouch.