Leviticus wasn’t talking about tattoos like these. Instead—no surprise here—God was keeping his people from participating in the religious practices of the neighboring Canaanites. They would slash their bodies and mark them with branding or ink for ritualistic purposes related to the worship of their gods. Tattooing and the marking of the body was a rite for honoring their gods and the dead. God was prohibiting worship practices related to false deities. Today’s tattoos are nothing like the practices being prohibited in Leviticus, so there is no restriction on getting a tattoo today. That
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