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Body scanners scandalize some believers

14 Mar 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

This Sunday's psalm suggests we look upon the Lord so "that you may be radiant with joy and your faces may not blush for shame." Followers of Islamic law and Orthodox Jews are among those in the traveling public who not only blush at the thought of having to pass through a full-body scanner at the airport but believe the machines violate religious norms. The scanners can detect items such as guns or explosives hidden under clothing. The images are grainy outlines of the human body, but also clearly show the outlines of breasts, buttocks, and sexual organs. Concerns about the images produced by the scanners prompted the 18-member Fiqh Council of North America to issue a fatwa, or religious edict, that said the scanners violate Islamic law. Muslims, the fatwa said, should instead request a pat-down. "It is a violation of clear Islamic teachings that men or women be seen naked by other men and women. Islam highly emphasizes 'haya' (modesty) and considers it part of faith," the edict said. Agudath Israel, an Orthodox Jewish umbrella group, has told lawmakers that scanners should only be used on passengers who had failed metal detectors. In a letter to Congress the group called full-body imaging "offensive, demeaning, and far short of acceptable norms of modesty" within Judaism and other faiths. Source: An article by Omar Sacirbey for Religion News Service

Muslims orthodox jews islamic law body scanners airport security fiqh council of north america fatwa agudath israel modesty
Struggling to get new airport security down pat

28 Nov 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

We rejoice with the psalmist this Sunday at the prospect of going “to the house of the Lord.” If your own travel plans take you through an airport this busy holiday weekend, you may find little to rejoice in. Aside from high travel volume, travel may be disrupted by passengers who plan to protest new security measures some call intrusive. The new security measures include more intense physical pat-downs as well as the use of body scanners which some claim amount to a “strip search.” Facing criticism, the Transportation Security Administration said Monday that it would reconsider its policies on passenger screening, though there would be no immediate changes. There are now about 385 full-body scanners at 70 airports in the United States, with 1,000 scanners planned by the end of next year. Many passengers are disturbed about the nearly-naked images created by the scanners (as well as the prospect of radiation exposure) and even more distressed with the thorough pat-downs for those who refuse to go through the machines. Online videos documenting some of the searches have gone viral and spawned a loosely organized effort dubbed “National Opt-Out Day” that encouraged travelers to opt-out of the scans on Wednesday, one of the busiest travel weeks of the year. Security officials respond that they are just trying to practice due diligence--the kind Jesus counsels in this Sunday’s gospel when he urges us to be alert and watchful for the thief who comes in the night--or in this case for the terrorist attempting to board a plane with a hidden bomb. Undercover tests by government security experts factored into the Obama administration's decision to use a more thorough pat-down so that screeners can catch a bomb hidden in a traveler's underwear, such as the one a man attempted to detonate on a flight last Christmas Day. Critics say there are other, less invasive ways to accomplish the nation’s security goals. They also criticized the lack of communication with the flying public about the new procedures. Source: Articles by Jason Hanna and Marnie Hunter for CNN, Eileen Sullivan and Michael Tarm for the Associated Press, and the New York Times

airport security national opt-out day pat-downs body scans passenger screening
Airline leaves musicians strung out

01 Jun 2014 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The psalmist this Sunday plaintively asks the Lord to hear "the sound of my call," to have pity and "answer me." A classical violinist barred from bringing his violin onboard a flight found an unusual way to make sure his protest would be heard and answered: He played Bach in protest on the tarmac. Zach de Pue of the trio Times for Three played the Prelude from Johann Sebastian Bach's Sonata in E Major, which one reporter called "perhaps the most beautiful form of complaint to an airline I have ever heard." De Pue and bandmate Nicolas Kendall were trying to fly from North Carolina to Arkansas for a festival when the U.S. Airways crew told them they couldn't board with their instruments as carry-ons. Informed they'd have to stow their violins in the plane's cargo compartment instead, the pair decided to skip the flight. As it turns out, the Federal Aviation Administration says airlines should allow violins as carry-ons, and a U.S. Airways spokesperson subsequently apologized and got them on a different flight, and they arrived at the festival on time. Homily hint: The next time you find yourself on the receiving end of frustrating treatment or poor customer care, pause to consider if there is an alternative way of protesting that doesn’t involve getting into a shouting match or losing your temper. Sometimes a problematic situation can be turned around by a creative response. Give yourself time to find one. Source: An article by John Johnson for Newser.com

Music us airways airlines airport security