Kat Von D said some Christians had an 'awful' response to her baptism and accused her of 'faking it' for publicity

• Kat Von D posted a 12-minute-long video about being baptized on Instagram on Sunday.
• She said she expected to get hate from her fans but was actually criticized the most by Christians.
• Critics accused her of faking the ceremony and shamed her husband, she said.

Two weeks after sharing the news of her baptism online, Kat Von D is reflecting on the public reactions to her religious journey.

The tattoo artist and musician shared a 12-minute-long video to Instagram on Sunday in which she discussed her current stance on faith and her thoughts on the ways people responded to her baptism.

Von D was baptized at the Switzerland Baptist Church in Vevay, Indiana, more than a year after renouncing witchcraft and the macabre.

For the most part, according to Von D, she and her family experienced an "overwhelmingly beautiful amount" of positivity from fans and Indiana locals.

"I'm actually shocked because I was expecting to get so much hate for it," she said. "I know that a majority of my fans and my followers are not Christian, and I know that it's a turnoff to a lot of people and everybody's had their own experiences in their life that might trigger certain things."

But she said there's also been an "awful" response from some Christians who accused her of faking her baptism for publicity and shamed her husband, though it's unclear over what.

"You would think that all the hate would be coming from people who are against religion or against Christianity and stuff — and we got the typical dumb, mean emoji comments," Von D said. "But it was really the Christians who were the worst, and it was just really sad to see this critical display of judgment from Christians."

Von D said she doesn't understand what inspired any hate, and that judgment "isn't Christ-like."

"You would think that most Christians would be happy for you when you come to this point in your life, especially when you get baptized," she said. "Baptism is so beautiful and it's such a big landmark in time. For me at least, it was one of the most important days of my life."

She also rejected claims of her baptism being a stunt for social-media views, saying that her Instagram is not monetized, so she's not getting paid for the number of times people watch her videos.

Others, she said, took issue with the way she and her friends dressed in black gowns and suits with sparkling accessories.

"I think it's really insane that we live in a time where people still judge a book by its cover," she said. "I feel like I wasn't aware that there's a uniform that you're supposed to wear once you give your hearts to Jesus."

While she noted that there's a "stereotypical aesthetic" among the Christian community that she doesn't fit into, she said she doesn't understand why those who do would judge her style.

"What part of this is considered demonic? Or is it just because you have a perceived notion of if people wear black clothes or if they style their hair a certain way or if they have tattoos?" she said in her video. "That, to me, is the silliest thing you could say. So for all of you out there who are telling me that I'm not a real Christian unless I delete everything I've ever posted or that I've got to stop listening to The Cure or whatever, I think that you may have gotten it a little wrong."

Finally, Von D said some critics shamed her musician husband Rafael Reyes, though she didn't explain what they criticized him for.

"I feel like that one is quite annoying because you don't know the dynamics of our marriage, and you don't know what somebody's going through," she said. "My husband has his own journey, and I am here to support him and be there for him as much as I can and be the best wife that I can be for him."

"But until he makes his own decisions, should I just abandon ship?" she continued. "Should I just divorce my husband and uproot the beautiful nuclear family that we have because he doesn't sing lyrics the way that you think he should sing lyrics?"

At the end of her video, Von D called out people who nitpicked various aspects of her baptism, including those who criticized her pastor for not fully dunking Von D into the water so that her hands were submerged. 

"I didn't get baptized to be saved. I was already saved, and I didn't get baptized to make it about me. It was never about me," she said. "And these people who come at me with these negative, critical comments, I just hope that you're able to maybe take some time and reflect on how you're viewing the world and how you're possibly pushing people away."