Tattoo Ideas: Religious Tattoo Designs And Pictures

Do you feel strong in your faith and want to express it thorugh a long lasting permenant piece of body art? If so then a religious tattoo might be exactly what you are looking for. Religious tattoos are some of the most poular tattoo designs and can be a great way to express your inner most deep feelings and sentiments. Read on to learn more about religous tattoos.

Religious tattoo have been a part of all cutlures for a long time. The art of tattooing has always been intermixed with religious rites or passages and part and parcel of religion in many ancient cultures. Today tattooing has become more of an art form and a form of slef expression and for most modern cultures the religious rites of tattooing have all but disappeared.

Does this mean it is a sin to get a tattoo or that by getting a tattoo you are defiling your body? This is really a matter that is open for debate and it really depends on the culture. For most of us religious tattoo refer back to the Judeo Chrisitian religions and it is therefore the Bible that people turn to when debating about tattoos. There are some significant passages in the Bible that state one should treat their body as a temple of God. However, what is exactly meant by this is a matter of great debate among Christians. There are those that of course say this means you can not tattoo your body as this is a defilement of the body. However, there are others that believe treating your body as a temple relates more to sexual practices and commiting suicide. They feel that the versus in Leviticus are actually reffering to sexual practices and have ntohing to do with tattoos. This is not a matter or issue that can ever be solved. What is most important if you are considering getting a Christian religious tattoo is that you feel strongly about it yourself. After all you will be the only one that lives witht he tattoo for the rest of your life and afterall one of the strongest messages that Jesus taught was only God can be the judge. Just think about the famous phrase that was utter by Jesus according to the Bible, "Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone".

Just to add a little more credance to this debate think about this. Many of the early Christian Crusaders would get small tattoos of Christian crosses to signify that they wanted a Chrsitian buial.

So if you are Christian and contemplating a tattoo make sure that you are okay with it and it is something you really desire and then let God be your final judge. Don't look for outside sources to decide if a tattoo is right for your body or not after all it is YOUR BODY!

In terms of other cutlures and religious traditions many accept tattooing as a religious rite of passage and a divine art form. Read on below to find out more about religious tattoos in other reiligous traditions.

Buddhist Tattoos- The Buddhist religion is full of beautiful religious imagery which lends itself well to tattoos. In fact there are many Buddhist themes and art that has become popularized in tattoo fashion today. Many of the most popular tattoo designs are from the Buddhist traditions. There is nothing one way or the other that strongly prohibits or extolls tattooin as an art form. However, in Thailand many of the monks even the older monks whom are very devout Buddhists have huge full body tattoos. They feel that it is like an magical amulet that one can wear to ward off evil spirits.

Hindu Tattoos - Hinduism is actually not just one unified religion. Very similar in many ways to Christianity Hinduism is made up of many different religious traditions that all ascribe to the same basic principles and tennants of faith. However, a Shivite (one who Whorships Shiva) is very different then a devotee of the god Vishnu. So within Hinduism there are many different traditions. Some of the traditions forbid tattooing while others have a more open policy.

Hinduism has a very deep connection with art and art is a major part of the religion. This has allowed for thousands upon thousands of religious imagery to be developed and much of it has come into the art form of tattooing. So much so that you can find many Hindu tattoo themes and designs in most popular tattoo shops here in the west. Kali, Shiva and even Vishnu have all become very popular subjects for tattoos.

Islam and Muslim - To the Muslim people the Islamic faith pretty much prohibits tattoos when it essentailly states that no one should decorate their body to make it more beautiful. This has but a pretty strong ban on tattooing for most Islamic believers. There are some that go ahead anyway and they see nothing wrong with it but there is not a strong tradition of tattooing within the Islamic religion.