Inkless Rebel

Do not cut your bodies for the dead, and do not mark your skin with tattoos. I am the LORD.-Leviticus 19

Now, this commandment was originally a prohibition against getting a tattoo as a means of honoring the dead, which was a common pagan custom then and now. It also has been an interpreted as a prohibition against any marks on the body including piercings and tattoos. I believe that it can remain an open question which can be left up to the individual reader giving it a special meaning for each person. For me, I see it an act against an increasingly pagan culture of the west which has an obsession with tattoos. I have been pondering about getting a tattoo for years, and now I am leaning in not getting one, because it leaves me the last of a dying breed, a person who has not marked up their body, it makes me unique. I dare to be different in this day and age by not having tattoos, wearing a beard, and dressing modestly. This type of behavior is seen as weird in a time where everything that was once considered weird is now normal. The world has been turned upside down where we are in wonderland. As a Jew living in a very goyish, non-Jewish, place, I will try to uphold my heritage and be a rebel against the grain. Now, I think Hashem will forgive you if you have a tattoo, plus this commandment only applies to Jews, so non-Jews need not worry. In all, I believe that it is an act of bravery to be different, an act I am willing to undertake, but are you?
-Kole Elyon Olam