The Crowd: Blah Blah Blah... Tattoos, Piercing, etc.
Me: I have several Tattoos and piercings.
Someone in the Crowd: But you're Jewish!
Me: Well I am a reform Jew, and I do not take the Bible's prohibition of tattooing as the word of God.
Someone else: Well, you know you can't be buried in a Jewish cemetary
Me: That's actually not true, and here's why, etc.
First of all, I personally leave the conversations quite frustrated when anyone else lectures me on theology. I happen to be quite well read in the scriptures and could probably throw back more quotes than these people could handle (of course I don't). Most of the time these well meaning people are just repeating what they've heard elsewhere, and don't really have a full understanding of the theology they're discussing. Further, I always feel as if I am being reprimanded: "You know that you can't be buried in a Jewish cemetary!" Even if that were true, I certainly don't need additional guardians telling me what to do, thank you very much.
Now, on to the more important theological question: Are Jews prohibited from practicing body modification? In my opinion the answer is 'No' for several reasons, which I shall enumerate. One, most Jews in the Reform, Reconstructionist and Conservative movements do not take the Bible to be pure divinely inspired word. That is, no one assumes that everything in the Bible could or should be interpreted literally. Further, many Jews, including the heads of the Reform Jewish Council of America, agree that the Bible should be understood in the context in which it was written, that is to say, 6000 years ago. There are things around today that the writers of the Bible, no matter how 'God-inspired' they were, could not have forseen. Therefore, Reform Jews (and Conservative, but to a lesser degree) are called upon to interpret the Bible and give it meaning for their own lives.
This facilitates Reform Judaism's acceptance/tolerance of such 'sins' as: Homosexuality, pre-marital sex, birth control, eating pork or shellfish; as well as our general rejection of antiquated sexist and racist ideas contained within the Bible. If the Reform movement is willing to accept/tolerate these formerly heretical ideas then certainly Body Modification, which warrants only one admonition (Leviticus 19:28), can be accepted and tolerated.
Two, even if we were to accept the Bible at it's word, the passage in Leviticus (19:28) specifically prohibits markings made on one's body "for the dead." This admonition was most likely directed at pagan practices, and further attempted to separate the Jews from other ancient peoples. And, I have yet to find anything in the Bible or other scripture about 'not being buried in a Jewish cemetary' because of one's tattoos.
Three, when these people inform me that I cannot be buried in a Jewish cemetary ,I usually question them about their practices. Such as, birth control use, eating pork (Jews only), pre-marital sex, greed, etc. Certainly those sins are more likely to not only prevent one from being buried in a 'religious' cematary, but also would prevent one from entering into the kingdom of God. If you want to be picky, there aren't 'lesser sins,' just sins. If people are so interested in the outcome of breaking laws set out in the Bible then I'd watch out for the massive bolt of lightning that is about to strike most of them.
Finally, I just don't understand everyone's knee jerk reaction to the subject. It's not as if any of them have a personal stake in where I am/not buried. And if I am concerned as to where I am buried it is my concern alone. I suppose one could just say: My modifications are very personal, and I undertook each of them with much thought and planning beforehand. If the other's in these conversations would think about that fact for a moment perhaps they would not be so quick to come to their hastily made conclusions about my burial possibilities.