Tattoos, Americans and the Jungle Drums

As commitment to Christianity slides away, people don’t believe in nothing. They believe in anything.

They drift into hedonism–pursuing whatever kind of pleasure attracts them. From there, without any belief system they drift into a kind of default paganism which concerns itself with the natural world through ecology and a vague attachment to social causes. People do not exist in a spiritual vacuum for long. From a vague hedonism and mild paganism into occult practices. They may not realize they are dabbling in witchcraft and black magic because it is disguised within a culture of drugs, occult focussed rock music and edgy artistic ecological stuff. If you want to get a glimpse check out the annual Burning Man Festival where crowds of Americans gather to go primitive.

Are the witch doctors there? You bet. Check out how much overlap there is in this sub culture with Voodoo, Wicca, Necromancy and Magic.

What we’re seeing is a reversion to demonic primitivism. What are some of the other signs? The beliefs of primitive peoples are vague, uncertain and based in nature religion. They have no set theology or ethics. Instead their belief system is instinctual, natural and crude. Their moral code is a primitive set of unwritten rules based on force, violence and revenge.

Lest we fall for the myth of the “noble savage” their lives are not noble. They live in filth and fear. They kill their elderly because they are a burden and discard the infants they do not want. They offer human sacrifices to their demon gods–most often their infant children.

Hey! That’s us!

What are the signs of this kind of reversion to primitivism? There are outward signs: Body modification, tattoos, nudity, body painting. In the Old Testament tattoos were forbidden to the Hebrew people because the pagans tattooed and cut themselves. Why? In some societies it was for mere body decoration, but more often it was part of a blood ritual of commitment to the demonic god.

I have recently counseled a guy who had a number of extensive tattoos–all of which were demonic symbols, words and images. In submitting himself to be marked with them he admitted that he was submitting himself to a whole system of drugs, prostitution, addiction and everything from the dark side.

Does this mean I am being an extremist and am against all tattoos or pierced ears? Not really–just observing that when these practices go to extremes there is more happening than a bit of harmless fashion accessories–and that they are sometimes an outward sign of an inner condition of mind and heart. When the person does not practice the faith and has no defenses against demonic influences they are vulnerable and have in their lives multiple openings and opportunities to encounter the dark side.

No wonder the need for exorcists is growing.