By Mark Gray
3:00am PDT, Oct 20, 2023
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It seems that a slew of Kat Von D's followers are choosing to ignore the Bible verse about judging not lest ye be judged…
Earlier this month, the celebrity tattoo artist revealed that she had gotten baptized and was devoting her life to Jesus after years of practicing witchcraft. Although Kat received some praise for her spiritual evolution, she still garnered some criticism. The "worst" of it came from Christians — not atheists, she says.
After Kat took to Instagram to share a video depicting her baptism, some critics accused her of "faking" the ceremony or of getting baptized as a publicity stunt. That's simply not true, she says.
Click through to read how Kat is addressing the haters and hitting back at people who claim she doesn't "look" Christian…
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Kat Von D has been attending a small church in Indiana, but she never publicly addressed her religious beliefs because she doesn't want to be the "poster child" for Christianity. The former reality TV star also told her social media followers that her Instagram won't become "some kind of Christian meme page."
Still, the response to her baptism was "overwhelmingly" positive — especially from people whose religious views don't align with hers.
"I know that a majority of my fans and my followers are not Christian and so I know that it's a turn off to a lot of people," she said in a lengthy Instagram video.
Kat assumed the "hate" would be coming from those who harbor anti-religious views. She was wrong…
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Kat Von D went on to address the response to her baptism: "You would think all the hate would be coming from people who are against religion or against Christianity. It was really the Christians who were the worst. It was really sad to see this critical display of judgment from Christians … because that isn't Christ-like to judge people or judge people's journey," she said.
"You would think most Christians would be happy for you when you come to this point in your life, especially when you get baptized. A baptism is so beautiful and a beautiful landmark in time. At least for me it was, it was one of the most important days of my life. It's strange that these handful of negative, critical Christians would come after me in such a public way as well," the former "LA Ink" star continued.
The "negativity" from some anti-religious fans was nothing "compared to the criticism I got from Christians," she added, calling the response "awful."
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After speaking up about her dedication to her new Christian faith, Kat Von D was criticized by Christians for the way she looks, her music tastes and her past Instagram posts.
"I think it's really insane we live in a time where people still judge a book by its cover. I wasn't aware that there's a uniform you're supposed to wear once you give your heart to Jesus," she said. "I will say there is a certain aesthetic that is a stereotypical aesthetic for the Christian community and that is not me. I don't dress like that. At the same time, I would never judge you for how you look, so why would you judge me? What part of this is considered demonic or is it just because you have a pre-conceived notion if people wear black clothes or style their hair a certain way or have tattoos … that to me is like the silliest thing you can say."
One hater allegedly told her that she's "not a real Christian" because of the way she dresses.
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Kat Von D thought long and hard about whether to open up about her spirituality, but she's glad she did — despite the hate.
"My baptism was a public demonstration of where I stand with my faith and basically letting people know that I'm not ashamed," Kat said, adding that she wants to help people who are "at a crossroads and don't don't feel like they fit in."
"I don't feel like I fit in anywhere now, or that I ever have, to be honest. You're not alone," she said.
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Many Christians were apparently critical of Kat Von D's husband, Leafar Seyer, who also goes by the name of his music group, Prayers. Prayers, it seems, doesn't exactly share his wife's religious beliefs, but he supports her. Her husband of five years is on "his own journey," Kat said, adding that she isn't going to "just abandon ship" because of their differing beliefs.
"The way that some of those comments were phrased were so awful and cruel, I wonder what your life looks like. Do you only hang out with people who look and think like you? That sounds like a very close minded life to live," she said.
Prayers publicly praised his wife when she shared her baptism video.
"I love you so much my beautiful wife, you continue to inspire me every day. I want to marry you over and over again!" he commented on her Instagram post.
On Monday, Oct. 16, he told Kat, "It's me and you against the world baby and nothing will ever change that! LUKE 23:34 I'm so proud of you!"
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The way Kat Von D sees it, those rigid people who criticized her are "possibly pushing people away" from the faith.
"I love you no matter what, even if you don't like what you're seeing or the things I'm saying or we don't agree on certain things, I still love you," she said. "I may not be down with the way you do life, but that's no reason to hate or criticize."
