A few thoughts for consideration...
This article is quite well-written. I agree that tattoos cannot be generally said to constitute sin. Leviticus 19:26-31 lists references to specific pagan practices (consumption of blood, i.e. vampirism; divination and fortune-telling; roundening the sidegrouths of the head; marring the beard; gashing or tattooing the flesh for the dead; and giving one's daughter over into the role of a temple prostitute). Verse 30 commands that we keep ADONAI's Sabbaths (seemingly, judging from the context, as opposed to pagan sabbaths, which fall on different days). Then, in v. 31, we have yet another pagan practice delineated. The immediate context, i.e. the list in those 6 verses, is all 14th Century BCE pagan rituals.
The word <i>qa'aqa</i>, being a <i>hapax legomenon</i> (a one-time-only occurring word), is of uncertain meaning. It has not been supported linguistically to mean "cut" (the Hebrew word for which is <i>karath</i>). The context of the verse being Egyptian pagan rituals, it is most likely that this foreign (non-Hebrew) root is an Egyptian loanword, a transliteration of <i>kake</i> (which means "darkness") indicating the emotional state of the mourner. Moses frequently uses Egyptian loanwords which do not carry over into later Hebrew (ref. Abraham Yahuda, <i>The Language of the Pentateuch in its Relationship to Egyptian</i>, 1933; Gleason Archer, <i>A Survery of Old Testament Introduction</i>, 1974). The verb paired to qa'aqa in the Hebrew text is <i>katav</i> (to write), indicating the writing of language, i.e. a word. It is likely, then, that this word (<i>kake</i> in Egyptian letters, <i>qa'aqa</i> in Hebrew script) was written, in some fashion, onto a mourner's body or face. Whether it is a permanent or temporary sign is uncertain, but since mourning is temporary, it would be expected that the sign is likewise temporary (perhaps something akin to <i>henna</i>) (ref. Thomas O. Lambdin, <i>Introduction to Sahidic Coptic</i>, 2000). Even if <i>qa'aqa</i> does actually mean tattoo, the context as it is grouped in the Hebrew is mourning, and to divorce it from that context is hermeneutically irresponsible, as it would only refer to tattooing words (not images, since <i>katav</i> indicates the writing of textual siglae) commemorating the dead.
I come from a different perspective with regard to anti-nomianism (i.e. discarding Adonai's standard of holiness/Torah*). Re: the clothes of two fibers, historical-cultural context is crucial to our reading of Leviticus 19:19. The context is a triad of three examples of deceptive marketplace practices - selling something as wool that is actually mixed with a plant fiber like cotton (thus creating an inferior product but advertising it as being of higher quality than it is), selling an animal as purebred that is actually a mixed breed, and selling something as a pure strain of grain which is actually cross-germinated with an inferior strain. The timeless principle to be extrapolated is that defrauding one's neighbor is still something a person of the Judeo-Christian faith ought not do. Amen?! As Yeshua (Jesus) Himself declared in opposition to anti-nomianism, "Until heaven and earth pass away, not even one yod or penstroke of the Torah shall pass away" (Matthew 5:18)... and both are still here. [Cf. David Friedman, Ph.D., <i>They Loved the Torah: What Yeshua's First Followers Really Thought of the Law</i>,2001; Derek Leman, <i>Paul Didn't Eat Pork</i>, 2005]
One correction: The Bible does not actually forbid cheeseburgers (mixing meat and dairy); that is part of the Pharisaic <i>hedge around Torah<i>, not Torah itself. The Torah command is not to take part in the pagan ritual of boiling an young goat in its mother's milk (Exodus 23:19, 24:26; Deuteronomy 14:21); the supererogatory <i>tradition of man</i> (i.e. the Pharisees) that forbids mixing meat and dairy is not found in the Bible, but rather in the <i>Babylonian Talmud</i> (Tractate Hullin, Folio 113b).
It is ultimately important to note that <b>none of these matters impacts salvation</b>. Yeshua (Jesus) said only that they impact our standing in the Kingdom of Heaven: "So whoever disobeys the least of these commands of Torah and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but, whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 5:19).
"Test all things, and take hold of what proves good" (1 Thessalonians 5:21).
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*Torah is the first 5 book of the Bible (Genesis - Deuteronomy).
