the other day the question of tattoos came up in a group forum to which i'm subscribed.  i posted the following and thought it interesting enough (though barely so) to include on my page:

i have no problems with tattoos.  i have a crown of thorns and ichthus around my left ankle.  our bodies are indeed temples of God and our lives sacrifices to Him.  but i don't see how a tattoo in itself could possibly be "defiling" the temple that is my body--in any way making it impure or unclean.  especially after jesus taught so clearly that it's the "inside of the cup" to which we ought to pay attention.

in leviticus 19 the children of Israel were told not to cut marks in their skin for the dead (tattoos).  this is one requirement given to them by Yahweh that, when obeyed, would set them apart from the other nations of the world.  it comes just after "thou shalt not trim your beard" and "don't eat meat with blood in it."  i think it's funny that people try to bind the tattoo law but not the others.  we ought to see that what we bind has been filtered through the lens of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.  instead we look to the scriptures to further prove our already existing opinions....  eh, we're humans.