Amanda Pretlow- Tattoos

I was thinking the other day about tattoos. As a fan of tattoos, I personally consider them art. A friend of mine is tattoo artist (my tattoo artist actually). He is a pretty devout Christian and faced a lot of criticism from the congregation of on of his previous churches. They looked down on his form of expression because of one single scripture (I am assuming). While we were talking (as he was tattooing a dove onto my ankle), we got into a conversation about acceptable form of expression. My question was: why should anyone feel the need or privilege to criticize my friend's form of worship? Most of his tattoos are religious in nature (my favorite being the four stars of David on his leg of the different elements- earth, air, fire, and water). He is quite obviously using his art to praise his God. Would it matter to God if our expression of faith is on a canvas, in stone, or on skin. Even if the tattoo is not blatantly religious, there is still a spiritual quality to it. When I got my first tattoo, all I could think was that the pain was going to be totally worth it. Not only would I have a permanent reminder of what I stand for (in this case, peace), but everyone that sees the tattoo gets to see a little piece of my soul. I get to share the story of why I got the tattoo and maybe convince someone else to get one. No matter the medium, art is art. Ink and skin can serve the same purpose as paint and canvas. One can express their faith on their skin as well as on paper or stone. Tattoos also allow us to constantly participate in the art.