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Local paper lauds Multnomah
for reversing its ban on tattoos
PORTLAND — The headline on the July 11 cover of Willamette Week, the area’s leading alternative weekly, read as follows: “Christians rejoice — Multnomah Bible College is gettin’ inked.” Inside, with a huge color photo of a tattoo on a man’s back, another headline read, “The Word Made Flesh.”
Paige Richmond, a WW reporter, then proceeds to report that Multnomah Bible College and Seminary finally allows students to show off their body art or tattoos.
Richmond cites Matt Farlow, 33, a seminary grad student, who has marked his body with religious imagery since his 20s. Farlow claims that all of his tattoos glorify Christ, and with Multnomah’s new ruling, he can display a full sleeve of vibrant symbols depicting the Holy Trinity and the Greek name of God.
Farlow has Kelly Fried, Multnomah’s dean of student services the past two years, to thank. Fried, 60, a former public school principal, told WW that someone’s behavior can’t be shaped on rules; it must come from the inside.
When Fried joined the college in January 2006, he noticed that the student handbook hadn’t changed in the past 30 years. Among them were tattoos, which students were forbidden from getting while at school and from calling attention to tattoos they had before enrolling.
Fried said tattoos or piercings don’t have anything to do with one’s spiritual life, and Ben Thomas, Multnomah alumnus and now a school resident director, said no one was ever expelled for getting a tattoo. Thomas said it was likely that prospective students decided against Multnomah because of that policy.
Multnomah’s tattoo policy was popular with the college’s trustees, but wasn’t a hit with students. Result: a complete overhaul of the student handbook, which doesn’t mention tattoos but stressed that dress, whether on or off campus, must be in good taste and appropriate without being extreme.
There’s been no surge in new tattoos among students, but Fried suspects they are now more comfortable showing the ones they got. Mav Mess, 40, local tattoo artist, said he gets plenty of business from Multnomah students who come to him through word of mouth.
WW said Multnomah is not the only Christian institution in town that allows this form of body modification. Imago Dei, the Emerging Church congregation in southeast Portland, has members who wear tattoos proudly.
Josh Butler, Imago’s worship leader, said Christians get tattoos to have artistic expression on them as a valid part of their faith. He sees tattoos as a mode of personal expression, like playing in a band or painting with watercolors.
Farlow, who received his master of divinity degree in theological studies last May, believes that it’s the intention of the tattoo that matters, citing the Apostle Paul who said that whatever you do, do it for the glory of God. He believes Christians who get tattoos should prayerfully consider what they’re putting on their body.
He also believes Jesus would support Christian body art, and that He will have a tattoo when he returns, referring to Revelation which says He will write on His thigh “Lord of Lords and King of Kings.”
Paul Metzger, Multnomah Seminary theology and culture professor, said he sees acceptance of tattoos as an opportunity for Christians to demonstrate their faith to non-believers in a way to soften stricter notions of what it means to believe.
Fried emphasized that Multnomah’s relaxed attitude toward student expression is based on the idea that you can’t legislate behavior. In the meantime, the Student Services department continues to discuss student behavior issues such as whether to allow those older than 21 to drink.
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