Calling For A Look At The Crucifix Tatoo
The writer of the following article respects the beliefs and traditions of all religions. She appreciates the reluctance of some religious leaders to countenance the use of the crucifix tattoo. She knows the use of any tattoo, including a crucifix tattoo would be condemned by certain religious leaders. By the same token, the writer can see little reason for an emphasis on the “letter of the law.” The writer feels that a member of any religious group should seek to observe the spirit of the laws that are expected to guide the behavior of those who have “joined” that same group.What is the size of a crucifix tattoo? If it is not a large tattoo, then maybe certain men and women in the U.S. Marines should think about getting a crucifix tattoo. The Corps has not forbidden all tattoos, only large tattoos.
Why would certain Marines have reason to consider getting a crucifix tattoo? The answer to that question requires a look back to the time of the crusades. At that time, a number of the crusading knights decided to wear a crucifix tattoo. They wanted to make clear their desire for a Christian burial.
The reader who still fails to see why a Christian knight would want a tattoo should recall what sparked the Crusades. The Crusaders arrived in the Holy Land with the intention of winning back from the Muslims control of the land where Christ had spread his teachings.
.
Now the Muslims, those then in charge of the Holy Land, did not feel comfortable with the traditional Christian burial. When a Muslim died, no one sought to preserve the dead body. It was placed in the ground, unprotected by any sort of box or coffin. The Christian knights did not want to see themselves buried in that way.
That explains why a number of crusading knights chose to get a crucifix tattoo. One can speculate that one or more of the crusaders might also have decided to carry a wooden crucifix. Prevailing superstitions would have no doubt suggested that possession of such a crucifix could bring good luck.
So how does that note of history relate to the present-day U.S. Marines? Some of those Marines now fight in a Muslim country (Iraq). If fatally wounded in battle, a Christian Marine would want to have a Christian burial. A crucifix tattoo might help to guarantee fulfillment of that desire.
Of course, a request for a certain type of burial does not always offer insurance that one’s request will be honored. Take, for example, the men and women who died at the hands of the theocratic Iranian government. Some of those men and women were killed because they had refused to become Muslims. Some of those men and women had on them cards bearing a request for a Baha’i burial.
Since the Iranian government had refused to accept the Baha’i Faith as an independent religion, one can hardly see why the government would have honored the printed request on any card. The possible acknowledgement of those small, printed requests seems even more remote, when one learns about another government practice.
If the government had a prisoner killed by a firing squad, then his family was billed for the cost of the bullet. If a prisoner were killed by hanging, then the government would bill his or her family for the cost of the hanging rope.