To All Those Who Judge A Book By Its Cover:

I am an avid reader of babble.com, they have some amazing articles ranging from everything to anything. And I just finished reading one and had to comment a little.

Mattel has created a pink-haired, tattooed Barbie. This is not what I wish to comment on, although she is very cool - even if her cactus-dressed pet is a little odd. What I wish to put out there is the sadness and hurt I feel over the negative reactions some parents had to her. Barbie has been controversial right from the start, people love to bring up her disproportionate body features, which I can understand the concern parents have in an already media frenzied, 'need-to-be-thin' society. However, this new doll - meant to be a collectors item and children were not the intended target audience - has brought up a whole new hoopla.

First, a little background info about myself. I am a 26 year old single mom (not my ideal) to a beautiful 9 month old baby girl. I am still in the process of exploring my spiritual beliefs, but to call myself a Christian would not be far fetched. I have had numerous piercings in my life, but I only now have two piercings in my one ear and one other above my lip (also known as the Marilyn). I have four tattoos, all of my own design with three others lying in wait. I am not perfect. But I do try whole heartily not to judge people, especially by appearance or sexual orientation. The most I do is shake my head at some and their behaviour towards others. I am also a future psychologist in the making (It requires a Doctorate in most of Canada, which takes a while to achieve).

Now that I have introduced myself, I will approach the disturbing revelation of some peoples ignorance and judgmental selves. I know that tattoos were frowned upon not that long ago (even though they have existed longer than technology has), but today, you see tattoos everywhere! From seniors in high school to grandmas and grandpas living in retirement homes, tattoos have become an everyday occurrence. At least, so I thought.

   “Is Mattel crazy? Selling Barbie dolls with tattoos? That was almost as bad as having a pregnant Barbie or Skipper! Is someone on drugs at Mattel??? Can’t really believe this at all! Why don’t they make a suicide Barbie, complete with rope and gun! Maybe that will really do these girls a favor in showing what a role model she is! Parents apparently don’t take such good notice in all this! Shouldn’t have kids if they do allow them to have this kind of doll!”

“Encouraging children that tattoos are cool is wrong, wrong, wrong. Mattel why not put a cigarette and a beer bottle in her hand while you’re at it!”

Quoted from:  http://blogs.babble.com/strollerderby/2011/10/18/so-whats-so-wrong-with-a-tattooed-pink-haired-barbie/

Basically, these two mothers are under the impression that people who have tattoos are suicidal or are 'trailer trash' (sorry to those living in a trailer, Im using the saying but not saying that all who live in trailers are trash). Wow. I had actually forgotten about the outrage towards a pregnant Barbie - isnt pregnancy a natural and beautiful part of life, a miracle and a gift from God??? That was more meant to be rhetorical. Besides these two naive moms, in the comments of the article another mom had something to say that truly struck a nerve.

"...I don’t have a stick up my butt, but I think the idea of a tattooed Barbie is ridiculous. Let’s all be so accepting of everyone and sit around a fire singing Kumbya with each other. A tattoo is ungodly and the Bible says it is.Piercings are also spoken of and not Biblical. Everyone just does whatever “feels good” and doesn’t have any regard or what the Lord has to say about anything. Everyone is more than welcome to “follow their heart” , but when the time comes, we are all accountable to God for whatever we say AND whatever we do. I am definitely not a perfect person, noone is, but I try hard to follow what is acceptable in the Lord’s eyes. The toy companies will get you to spend your money on anything..."

 Apparently, being accepting of others - loving thy neighbour, like Jesus preached - is silly. Sure, maybe tattoos and piercings go against the Bible, but so does lying. And everybody lies, even if to spare someones feelings, a lie is still a lie. She is right that we are all accountable to God for everything we say and do, but we are only accountable to Him. He is the only one with the right to judge our choices. And who are we to say which sin is the worst? Who are we to judge others, pointing out their sin(s) and choice(s) saying it is so much worse than our own sin(s)?

This does not apply just to tattoos and piercings, but to homosexuals, unwed mothers, and different races and religions. These judgmental people point fingers when those fingers should be pointing in a mirror. Jesus taught Grace and Truth, not Judge and Judge. Unless you have a direct link to God and He is telling you to judge people for Him, I suggest you learn to love all of Gods children, not just the ones you see fit.

It is 'Christian' people like this that cause me to hesitate and pause in my fully accepting and proclaiming myself as a Christian.