I picked up Dan Brown's new book, The Lost Symbol and ran acros this excerpt on tatooing:
"The goal of tatooing was never beauty. The goal was change. From the scarified Nubian priests of 2000 BC, to the tatooed acolytes of the Cybele cult of ancient Rome, to the moko scars of the modern Maori, humans have tattooed themselves as a way of offwering up their bodies in partial sacrifice, enduring the physical pain of embellishment and emerging changed beings.
"Despite the ominous admonitions of Leviticus 19:28, which forbade the marking of one's flesh, tatoos had become a rite of passage shared by millions of people in the modern age - everyone from clean-cut teenagers to hard-core drug users to suburban housewives.
"The act of tattooing one's skin was a transformative declaration of power, an announcement to the world: I am in control of my own flesh. The intoxicating feeling of control derived from physical transformation had addicted millions to flesh-altering practices . . . cosmetic surgery, body-piercing, bodybuilding, and steroids . . . even bulimia and transgendering. The human spirit craves mastery over its carnal shell."
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ME: Although I disagree with the premise of Dan Brown's books (especially Da Vinci Code), he is a decent writer who often has some interesting insights. This is an example of that. If tattooing, body-piercing, etc., is an attempt to exert contol over our own flesh, then it makes sense that the practice would proliferate along with our culture's abandonment of God.
Many say that getting a tattoo is simply a means of self-expression. It is not in my interest to condemn anyone who has one. I just think that anthropological and sociological insights that are related to cultural practices are interesting when it comes to what we are really looking for spiritually, relationally, and emotionally. This was one of those insights that might enable us to look more deeply at what is happening in the human experience.
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