Expert: Dr. Robert Ainsworth - 4/14/2009

Question
I want to one day be heavily tattooed (neck, hands, ect...) is that wrong of me?
and if so how much worse is it than having one or 2 small tattoos?

Answer
If it is wrong to have many tattoos, then it would be wrong to have just one. It isn't the amount or number that counts.

The Old Testament mentions a prohibition against tattoos because they were used as a form of ancestor and idol worship. It was the false worship that was the issue.

However, the better question is not whether you can or cannot have many tattoos, but rather is it the best thing to do. Many, not all, but many people who get a bunch of tattoos early in life end up thinking it would have been better had they not done so. These people wouldn't admit to regretting the tattoos, but most would probably not do it over again. Why? Tattoos are not as culturally and universally accepted as our current fads and fashions seem to indicate. In refined society circles (i.e., the upper echelons of wealth and influence), tattoos are not approved. People may say nothing to you, but they discriminate without conscious thought. Assuming that what I've estimated is true, then getting many obvious tattoos could close some otherwise open doors later in life. Why do something now that could have the potential to interfere with future opportunities, especially when it's not really necessary anyway?

So, for me, the question is not whether you can or not, but whether you should or not. My advice would be to refrain from marking the body that God created for you. If you are born again, then your body is His temple. He would probably prefer that you not put any graffiti on the temple's walls.

But then, that's just my opinion.