Obviously when we examine the preceding verses we can see that "cutting" is not a recent trend or phenomenon but was predominately practiced by heathen cultures since ancient times as a form of worship or as a way to commemorate the dead, symbolic of a type of mourning. In some cultures, primarily in the continents of Africa and Central and South America primitive cultures still mutilate their bodies to various extremes. In one culture particularly (courtesy of National Geographic) In Papua, New Guinea the cutting is a rite of passage for young men. The beliefe is that a man must be able to endure pain. The cuts are made in such a way as to give the appearance of a crocodile's scales, and this is done throughout the entire body, thus when the transformation is complete the individual resembles a crocodile. This is extremely painful since no form of anesthetic is used while the cuts are being made. Tatoos, body art and piercing are other forms of mutilation with cultural overtones that Yahweh condemned because these practices were symbolic of forms of worship that polytheistic cultures used to glorify the human body. There is a sense of beauty in mutilation that cultures attempt to emulate in various forms. I decided to write this blog in response to a post by Doyle Crowe. This is what I typed as a comment to his blog:

I've known several "cutters" personally and I have ministered to many others online. In fact my dear friend Louella was cutting when I first began to minister to her. Clinically much of this behavior is diagnosed as symptoms of depression. This is not always the case in every situation as I've known others to have been diagnosed with MPD (multiple personality disorder) but I've also known bulemics and anorexics to exhibit this behavior. A common thread in all of these cases is a lack of self esteem and self worth and repressed emotions, particularly anger. What I've found through personal experience and interviews with cutters and others with predminant conditions is that many of us have different ways of punishing ourselves for past failures. Some of us turn to street drugs and alcoholism to try to "medicate" ourselves as a way to overcome emotional pain. Cutting is also a way to vent because the logic is that by causing pain to your body you can somehow ease a lot of the emotional pain. So it a form of release. In some cases the cutting is a sign of demonic activity but in a few cases I found that the cutting was an extreme measure used to get attention. Reaching the youth is not about shoving Jesus down their throats. In fact this can create even more hostility. I have found that what works best is to be a friend and listen more than speak. Obviously when someone has so many issues bottled up they just need a healthy way to release it. Once they release all the junk then you can talk and they will listen. I was not personally a cutter but I exhibited the same type of behavior to extremes. In teens though a lot of the issues are also hormonal so keep this in mind when ministering to teens. If you want to know more just drop me a line. I have tons of information and experience. Shalom

The following is brief definition taken from Wikipedia

Self-injury (SI) or self-harm (SH) is deliberate injury inflicted by a person upon their own body without suicidal intent. Some scholars use more technical definitions related to specific aspects of this behaviour. These acts may be aimed at relieving otherwise unbearable emotions, sensations of unreality and numbness. The illness is listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) as a symptom of borderline personality disorder and depressive disorders. It is sometimes associated with mental illness, a history of trauma and abuse including emotional abuse, sexual abuse, eating disorders, or mental traits such as low self-esteem or perfectionism, but a statistical analysis is difficult, as many self-injurers conceal their injuries.

Self harmers are often mistaken as suicidal, but in the majority of cases this is inaccurate.and due to this prevailance the term self-harm is increasingly used to denote any non-fatal acts of deliberate self-harm, irrespective of the intention.

So when you examine how Wikipedia defines this condition compared to what I had written previously as a comment to Doyle Crowe's post you can see that I was right on point. We have to look at this from several angles as there is a world (secular) view and a biblical (spiritual) view that oppose each other. Obviously when we read the text in the book of Levitcus there is nothing to suggest that cutting is a condition of the mind. The implication is that cutting is a deliberate and intentional act that is condemned. The obvious question would be, why are these things condemned? Under careful scrutiny of the modern trends of this condition the underlying factor is that the predominant condition is sin. Though right now many would gasp at the mere mention of sin as the predominant condition I implore you to hear me out before dismissing any of this as the ramblings of a religious zealot. First of all by the grace of God I've had the opportunity to minister to hundreds, possibly thousands of individuals in the time Yahweh has allowed me to serve him. Although this does not qualify me as an expert in Biblical studies or mental conditions I do know people. Many of which I have known personally to be cutters. I'm one of those people that can talk to just about anyone and you would be surprised how much people will tell you if you just listen. Even prostitutes and homosexuals and people involved in many forms of vice will pour their hearts out if you just lend an ear. This is why a lot of Christians cannot minister effectively. They don't know when to shut up. We always feel we need to be the ones to have all the answers when we haven't even dealt with a lot of our own mess. You can't spiritualize everything. Yes everything about the Christian walk is rooted in Spirituality, but we can't expect the world with all of its carnality to understand anything about what we talk about when we speak to each other. Its all gibberish to someone that is in sin. Just like when Jesus was speaking to Nicodemus. He told Nicodemus that if he didn't understand when he spoke about earthly things how can he understand when he spoke about heavenly things. Most of the time people know when they are wrong. We don't have to keep reminding them about it though. For the sake of argument let's just say that cutting is a way to release pain. Ok then the alternative is to find a way to help the person to release the pain without cutting. That doesn't mean that you play nursemaid or offer to always be there because then you create a codependancy and when you are not able to perform you will only make matters worse. Don't make promises you can't keep. There are already issues with trust, and once you lose the trust you are right back where you started from or worse. In my own experience some would say that I am a bit overbearing but the very first thing I establish is a set of ground rules. I am stern but at the same time I have to be humble. I explain that I will not play games or become a part of someone's game, but that I will tell the truth and be open and honest. In most cases this is what is lacking in a lot of people. We need to care enough about people to be honest with them. Once I have established this we must come to an agreement. The results are amazing. I do introduce myself as a Pastor so my goal is to win the indivual to Yeshua, but a friendship should be more about your concern about where a person will spend eternity than to try to win a feather for your cap. Love is not about saying I love you because a person that is hurting emotionally may misinterpret this as a sign of affection. This is very common as many teens are looking for love in all the wrong places. Promiscuity among teen girls is often the result of a lack of a healthy GODLY relationship between a father and his daughter so cutting is often more prevalent in teen girls. Although I minister online to men and women the majority of the people I minister to are women. As a minister you have to know where to draw the line and have the discernment to know when to back off as many people are looking for any sign of affection they can latch on to. I'll warn you not to get emotionally involved with the people you minister to under any circumstance. The results will be catastrophic. Your goal is to minister in order to set a person free and be a mentor to help this person to find their way to Christ. If a friendship develops from the ministry, then Amen. Christianity is relational. Just remember to keep the friendship as a friendship. I recommend in a lot of situations when I minister to a young lady and she is getting a little personal I'll connect with a mature Spiritual woman to take over and limit the contact between this person and myself. Women especially should be careful when ministering to young men. If it starts to get personal she should either work with an adult male or have the discretion to back off while prayerfully seeking guidance from the Holy Spirit.I will also tag-team with another person so that the person that is ministering along with me can gain experience. This is a team effort and you are not going to win the world by yourself. Live by example thus allowing others to see how this thing we live works. That is how you are going to be able to reach teens. The devil is very involved in recruiting teens. He has so much to offer them. We have something better. So if we lose the youth to the devil it's our own fault. All you have to do is give them what they are looking for. Then you'll see an explosion like you never saw before. Shalom