I come from an extremely devout catholic family and tattoos and to an extent piercings (for men and only on the ears for women) have always been very big Nos (to the point where my mom nearly had a heart attack when i came back with an earring one day).
However I've noticed that in Japan having tattoos is seen as something that the Yakuza have and you are barred from public bathhouses if you have them on your body as well as recently Singapore making moves to ban people with visible tattoos from entering nightclubs. There are several facebook groups advocating a tattoo equal society etc.
So the question is, how far back does this stigma with tattoos go and why did it come about at all?
Also: Henna is something different entirely, if someone could explain that it would be much appreciated.
Bit late, found this randomly searching the word "tattoo"
In Christian culture the taboo comes from Leviticus as mentioned, but also from prejudice from the Roman era, as tattoos werecommon in Barbarian areas.
In Asia, tattoos have sometimes been used to mark convicts (rings around wrists and ankles) but they were a respectable partof Japanese culture until the Meiji period, including various fads based on books or gimmicks like tattoos that showed the full design when two lovers held hands. In an attempt to modernize and westernize Japan, the country banned tattoos and they were considered to be mark of criminals. That connotations lives to this day, as Yakuza are fond of extremely large, up to full-body tattoos for bravado.
In general, tattoos have for long been associated with sailors and criminals. Criminals particularly like them for their intimidation factor.
Sources are just Wikipedia, and few books I've read on the subject.