April 14, 1999
Piercees say 'body art' opens
some doors, shuts others
___By Greg Warner
___Associated Baptist Press
___WACO, Texas (ABP)-- Christians who pierce their bodies know they are misunderstood.
___But they say they will put up with that in order to be "culturally authentic."
___One group of pierced Christians in Waco says it's more important to take on the markings of the alternative culture where they live--with its distinctive dress, music and "body modifications"--than to be at home in mainstream Christianity.
___"It's just part of it, a look," saysRob Forkner, who has four piercings--a lip, one ear and two in his eyebrow.
MIKE GRAY
___The only justification anyone needs for such non-conformity is the example of Jesus, says piercee Mike Gray. "Christ did nothing socially acceptable, or to make him acceptable to people. He hung out with whores, beggars and tax collectors. He died a criminal."
___"If I'm not accepted because of the way I look, I'm not the one who needs to question that," adds Forkner. "I'm pretty comfortable with who I am right now."
___But he doesn't mind making other Christians uncomfortable, if it helps them examine their stereotypes. Piercings among alternative Christians "really forces people in American Christianity to deal with it," says Forkner, originally from Anchorage, Alaska, who works in a Christian ministry to the punk scene.
___"When I got my piercings, I really didn't even think about my Christianity as having any effect on it," says Forkner, "because for me some of the most right-on Christians I know are people with Mohawks and piercings."
___But Forkner is aware his piercings stigmatize him in the eyes of many. "I have to realize before I walk out that door there are going to be people staring at me. If that's going to bother me, I shouldn't get them in the first place."
___Kim Robinson, a 19-year-old from Houston, agrees her pierced lip--called a labret-- will invite some people to label her, "but it also opens doors to other people."
___Mike Gray, 25, is serious about body modification. He has 14 piercings to go along with his nine tattoos--all acquired since becoming a Christian. Some are merely "a cultural thing." Others have spiritual significance, like the two crosses and inscriptions, one on each arm. The inscriptions, both in Chinese, say "Son of God" and "Servant."
___Gray's body modifications are a kind of road map of his spiritual journey. For this son of a Baptist pastor who grew up in rural Texas, they mark a break with traditional culture and his search for his own identity.
___"I've been a Christian for 15 years now. But my faith, up until about four years ago, was not my (own) faith but my father's faith. I didn't begin to develop my own personal relationship with God until I realized it was mine and I had to make decisions that were my own."
___Gray became thoroughly immersed in the alternative culture and took on all of its markings. His first piercing was in his nipples. "I just wanted to pierce something, but didn't want my parents to know." Eventually his punk markings became obvious--pierced ears and nose, spiked hair, studded leather jacket.
___Gray's tattoos are a more explicit statement of his faith. In fact, his two elaborate cross tattoos have become witnessing tools, he says. "These two are my WWJD T-shirt," he says wryly.
___Gray and other marked Christians say their piercings and tattoos give them credibility within the alternative culture, and actually open doors to share their faith. "I can relate better," says Kim Robinson.
___Without the markings of their culture, Gray says, "alternative kids would not take [us] seriously."
___Gray says his pastor father has a completely different way of relating to the rural Texas culture in which he ministers. "His style is fine for the people he is witnessing to. But my dad could never witness to my friends or the people I am witnessing to. He could try, but he could never be effective."
___His father, Jim Gray, is pastor of First Baptist Church in Eddy. "He doesn't like the tattoos and piercings, but he is accepting of them," the son says.
___Recently Mike Gray quit wearing almost all of his 14 piercings--the ones that show anyway.
___"I just kind of gradually took them out," he says. Part of his disaffection, he says, is that piercing is less of a countercultural statement since it went mainstream. "Now they're doing it because MTV says its OK." But that's not the only reason he quit wearing his.
___"A lot of it had to do with the fact I didn't feel like an individual any more," says Gray, who works as a production assistant for a TV station. "I want people to be forced to know me and not my piercings. And it was an obstacle to some extent."
___"Now I just feel like a blue-jeans-and-T-shirt type of guy. And I feel so much freedom. I'm a chameleon. I can fit in anywhere. I love it."
___Gray says he hopes others in the alternative culture eventually decide to pass on piercing.
___"I want them to get to the point where they don't have to do it to freak people out or to fit in."
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