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Star-geeker rolled 20 100-sided dice:
9, 53, 10, 70, 50, 37, 58, 29, 67, 99, 93, 94, 98, 35, 92, 16, 20, 70, 93, 79
Total: 1172 (20-2000)
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 Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2017 8:14 am
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Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2017 5:30 pm
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We have to analyze three aspects of your question: piercing, earrings, and tattoos, in the light of Scripture to arrive at a sound conclusion. Providing some background information on each:
Piercing
◦ As far as piercing the ear goes, in and of itself, this is not a sin (thus, not a transgression of YHWH's Law) because at times He does utilize ear piercing— i.e. piercing the ear of the one who wants to stay a servant for life under their master's care:
Exodus 21:5-6 (NIV)
5 “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ 6 then his master must take him before the judges.[a] He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.
Footnotes:
a. Exodus 21:6 Or before God
Deuteronomy 15:17 (NIV)
17 then take an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life. Do the same for your female servant.
It's worthy to note, however, that in contrast to what people in the world do today, there was a functional aspect behind this piercing described in God's Commands (to mark the servant/slave as having an owner / as already having someone who took care of them for life), and a pledge of lifetime loyalty in servitude to their master (upon the slave's expressed desire to stay their master's slave for life). It was not done for mere aesthetics. There's always a layer of practical and functional purpose to what God says to do and how to do it.
Quote from "Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible":
and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; or with a needle, as the Targum of Jonathan, which also says it was the right ear; and so Jarchi; and the upper part of it, as says Maimonides, who likewise observes, that that with which it is bored must be of metal; and moreover, that it is the master himself that must do it, and not his son, nor his messenger, nor a messenger of the sanhedrim (m): the ear is an hieroglyphic of obedience, and the boring of it through to the doorpost denotes the strict and close obedience of such a servant to his master, and how he is, and ought to be, addicted to his service, and be constantly employed in it, and never stir from it, nor so much as go over the threshold of his master's house. This custom of boring a servant's ear continued in Syria till the times of Juvenal, as appears by some lines of his: (n).
http://biblehub.com/commentaries/exodus/21-6.htm
note: I don't agree with Gill's every comment on the Bible (due to: not taking into consideration other verses when reaching a conclusion), but this is insightful. Clicking on that link will take you to other commentaries as well with further insight on this verse. (I also find it interesting that, though we're called children of God, not slaves any longer, in certain analogies, we're also said to be made slaves to righteousness as a positive thing).
Romans 8:15 (NIV)
15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.[a] And by him we cry, “Abba,[b] Father.”
Footnotes:
a. Romans 8:15 The Greek word for adoption to sonship is a term referring to the full legal standing of an adopted male heir in Roman culture; also in verse 23.
b. Romans 8:15 Aramaic for father
Romans 6:18 (NIV)
18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
So piercing the ear as a sign of being a slave to your Master, and a slave to righteousness, for life, is not a bad—nor an inherently dangerous—thing.
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Earrings
◦ As far as earrings, there are positive examples of earrings too in Scripture.
Exodus 35:22 (NIV)
22 All who were willing, men and women alike, came and brought gold jewelry of all kinds: brooches, earrings, rings and ornaments. They all presented their gold as a wave offering to the Lord.
Ezekiel 16:12-13 (NIV)
12 and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was honey, olive oil and the finest flour. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen.
The latter of which is God bestowing these things on His people to adorn them—with good, high quality material, on top of being beautiful.
However what I can't tell you about these is whether or not they're the kind that entail piercing (why I even ponder the possibility: because I am aware of certain nose rings and earrings that just cling to the nostril or ear lobe, e.g. nose cuffs and ear cuffs, instead of piercing through the flesh).
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◦ As far as my personal experiences with having my ears pierced and with wearing earrings: I had my ears pierced when i was a baby, and then again around middle school—just your standard lobe piercing. As a baby on up, I wore gold earrings in my piercings (though apparently I would get the earrings stolen off of me because as I kid I'm busy running around playing, or quietly sitting, not really cognizant of what thieving adults are doing to my ears lol). So, they stopped "accessorizing" my infant/toddler self.
After middle school I got them pierced again, but this time with some cheap knock offs. After that, I always had an ear—the same one—that would get infected; if I recall correctly, it was my left one (plus, I think they pierced that ear wrong, whether both times or just the second time, I'm not sure). The infection could've been due to the material of the knock-off earrings that I kept wearing the second time around on top of the messed up pierce-job, but that was a source of discomfort every now and then for years. And then, on top of discomfort, I also didn't care very much about keeping up with accessorizing as I got older. So I just stopped wearing the earrings, lost interest in accessories, altogether and let the holes close up after high school.
All that to say, l don't quite care for them (piercings and earrings). But I don't condemn them either (because God doesn't condemn them) despite some of my bad experiences with it (whether due to the piercing/hole itself [done wrongly] or the earring itself [the material that was rubbing up against my live flesh/cartilage], or due to the type of attention it attracted and thus, the inconvenience and/or danger I was calling to myself—my relatives/guardians did not have Biblical discernment/wisdom at this stage in life. "Cute" was their only motivator. There's nothing inherently sinful or dangerous about piercing the ear [correctly] or the wearing of earrings [especially the non-piercing kind] in and of themselves, but I bring up this anecdote to alert you: be aware of the material the earring is made out of, the possibility of someone messing up causing you long-term distress [if it's a piercing], who you wear them around in this sin-filled world [full of envious, greedy, covetous creatures], and the vulnerable ones we place in danger for dressing them up in expensive or eye-catching things). I would add that God does not obligate anyone to get their ears pierced either, but He allows for the individual to do so (and run the risk) if they want (because the risks are not high risk when done with wisdom, nor violate His Commands, but piercings can be used in accord with His Commands).
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Tattoos
As for tattoos, there are a couple of topics in the guild that examine the Biblical (and extra-Biblical) history, Commands, and scientific studies, warning of the dangers on that.
[Cancer and Tattoo Link] — in reply to the study that neauroseas a.k.a. frankenshel posted, I replied with photographs and info of the historical practices of the pagans in this one, and the passage where tattooing is prohibited.
[Tattoos], in that conversation, which I can see you replied to, SARL0 linked to an in-depth Scriptural resource as well on the topic, and I linked to an article speaking of how the ink/pigment in the tattoos is something the immune system of our bodies actively fights against (thus why tattoos fade over time; the immune system of the body is eating away at the ink—a clear indicator that we're not suppose to have ink in our skin / organs, of which the skin is one, the largest organ).
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Conclusion
So, all things considered, on the topic of getting ears pierced in a tattoo shop, I would still avoid it next time (if there is a next time), in order to avoid misleading people into thinking approvingly of the tattooing itself that goes on in there (for the above-mentioned information contained in those other two topics). Though the piercing of the ears (done correctly) and the earrings themselves (of trustworthy material) are not the problem here.
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