“I’m wearing thin,” Carrington said, shaking his head. Jan Kaatz, senior pastor of the Culver City church, summoned him from the waiting area into a small examining room. On this evening, Carrington arrived in a crisp, white button-down shirt, olive dress pants and black patent-leather shoes. The Culver City program has treated patients from as far away as Las Vegas and has fielded calls from people in 10 states. A number of spiritual people have taken to heart the biblical command of Leviticus 19:28: “You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you.” Similar free or low-cost tattoo removal programs in Los Angeles were started by a Jesuit priest and a nun. Popkow is not alone in approaching the matter from a religious perspective. The American Society for Dermatologic Surgery said its doctors removed nearly 55,000 tattoos last year. While “the laser removes a physical stigma, to truly change _ that comes from a higher source.” “Without the prayer, without the focus on Christ, it’d just be a medical service,” Popkow said. Afterward, they must attend a service at the Culver City Seventh-day Adventist Church, where Popkow is a member. The catch? Before the procedure, patients are required to pray with a Christian pastor. Steven Popkow, a laser surgeon who eliminates unwanted hair by day and performs “ministry,” as he calls it, by night.įor eight years, Popkow has been giving those who need it most a clean slate.
CLEAN SLATE TATTOO FOR FREE
He signed in at the front desk and waited in a packed room to erase the physical scars of his past.Ĭarrington is one of more than 1,000 people who have had their tattoos removed for free by Dr. So, on a recent evening, Carrington walked into a run-down white building in Culver City, in west Los Angeles County. They did not belong on the cleaned-up Carrington, a 36-year-old father of two with a respectable job selling stocks and bonds. The markings were remnants of a former life, of drugs and alcohol, gangs and jail. LOS ANGELES _ A tattoo of Korean characters spelling “trouble” snaked down Miles Carrington’s neck.
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