Chasing Babies... Growing in Grace: Are you flying this holiday season? A violation of more than our 4th amendment rights

Friday, November 5, 2010

Are you flying this holiday season? A violation of more than our 4th amendment rights

It seems the government is asking the American people to succumb to m*lestation for an opportunity to travel by air. I sit here staring at my screen after what I just learned... searching for words.

Dumbfound at the audacity.

Visually upset.

Angry.

I know I have to get the word out. All you beautiful women. My throat closes at the thought.

This secular video clip from infowars.com shares the latest in TSA's regulations:

We're conditioned to let it happen. What can we say? It's in the name of "national security". We're conditioned to let them do whatever they deem necessary. For a long while now, security officers have been "checking" us with the backs of their hands brushing against clothes. With the advent of the "n*ked body scanners", it occurred to many of us that they had gone to far. But we could always opt out, then succumbing to a more thorough physical search. Now they've taken it a mile further.

It seems that when we choose to "opt out" of the n*aked body scanners (and possibly regardless), a more invasive hands front "pat down" is the alternative. Touching. Groping. I'm not sure what I would have done if I'd been Michelle from the video interview. Would I have had the presence of mind to stop that security man in his tracks when his hands, touching/feeling/squeezing their way up, had moved their way up past my knee? Beyond mid thigh? Reaching between? Or would I have been dumbfound in my horror? Too embarrassed to speak? Humiliated?

If it had happened to me, would I ever forget it? Would my children? Who cares if it's a woman who does the groping? By the way... the woman in the video wasn't working with a woman... but a man. And she didn't say anything about it, but I'm having a hard time believing that he told her everything he was going to do before he did it.

Everyday women and children are violated in this way by strangers and trusted friends and family alike. It's called m*lestation. And they are too embarrassed to ever mention it to another human being again. They walk through life scarred. Shattered.

What do we tell our children after something like this happens? This mother did the best she knew how, but how can we teach our children that it is never ok for ~~someone~~ anyone to touch them in those places, only to let government officials do so? Will it be something that gives my children nightmares for years to come? Will it affect my daughters future marriage bed? Even I feel like I may be going too far with this now... but am I? What's the difference?

And which would I prefer? For my daughter to be forever scarred by this "security search" of her private areas? Or for her to feel it's completely normal for a complete stranger to touch every inch of her body because it's protocol? I'm not sure I have an answer for you on that one.

Alex Jones calls it humiliation... but as a Christian woman striving to be a virtuous woman, I'm going to have to call it worse than that. I just can't come up with anything strong enough to put into words.

I'm begging you, beautiful women crafted by God, be aware. Protect yourselves. Protect your children. Know that this is happening. Know that this could happen to you and your children as you travel this holiday season, in some cases whether or not you "opt out" of the body scanning. Stay home... travel by car.

More importantly though, tell everyone you know about this. I'm angry about what is happening, but I am grateful to know about it before being in the terrible position myself.

Have any of you seen or heard about this already? Has it happened to you? If you are willing, please share it with us.

Labels: Passing it On, Rants

5 Comments:

At November 6, 2010 at 7:26 PM , Stephanie said...: That is incredibly disturbing. Thank you for sharing that, Babychaser! Such a difficult thing to know how to deal with, but it's absolutely not acceptable.
At November 6, 2010 at 9:28 PM , Anonymous said...: Maybe if enough people pee on their hands, they'll think twice about groping!!!!
At November 7, 2010 at 9:01 AM , Susan B said...: We traveled a week ago today. Leaving Orlando, my six year old was stopped for a 'random search'. I stayed with her in the glass cublicle. Then my husband tried to get through security. He emptied his pockets of everything, took his belt off...and he still touched off the sensors (maybe it's the titaneum rod in his leg?). Meanwhile, I am watching our stuff heaping up on the conveyor belt...like my purse and our computer. Since he couldn't go through the metal detector with out setting it off, they have to detain my husband, but my child and I am already in the 'containment' area. Since we are together and I have not been 'stopped', I am let out but my husband and daughter are not allowed to talk or touch since they have both been stopped for different things. A TSA person stopped me and said 'you daughter is still in there? When I get a 'random' check on a child I always ignore it'. She then proceeded to 'check my child' (it was rubbing those papers against her hand and then running them through an analyzer. I guess she had to finish the check since another person had started it). My husband was then patted down severely, in the open, before they let him through. It was a very wierd experience.
At November 7, 2010 at 9:02 PM , ~Babychaser~ said...: One commenter (anonymously) asked why I chose to leave letters out of more sensitive words in this post.

Perhaps it wouldn't matter, but I chose to do so to avoid being flagged or rated for using more "sensitive" words in my posts. I've seen others do it on their blogs and have followed suit.

I didn't include the comment (a right I hold for myself [and my husband] as author of this blog) because the words were included and publishing it would defeat the point.

Thanks for asking "Anonymous". I hope you'll take the time to introduce yourself in the future,
At November 8, 2010 at 8:30 PM , Zoe said...: This is horrendous. I am shaken and disgusted. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. I haven't flown for about 7-8 years now, and I would have been totally unprepared for this legalised abuse. When I think of the degree of care we have to go to to protect children against abuse in our schools and community, but then this kind of thing is enforced - the hipocrasy leaves me speechless. Well, almost. What, practically, can we do about this? For myself, I will think twice about choosing to fly, but this needs to be stopped somehow. The body scans are bad enough, but this is indefensible, in my mind. I am all for protecting our countries, but we give convicted crimimals more rights to privacy than this. There has to be a way to make flights secure without allowing officials to perform, what would be in any other setting, a criminal act.

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Chasing Babies... Growing in Grace

Friday, November 5, 2010

Are you flying this holiday season? A violation of more than our 4th amendment rights

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