USA Today recently reported that body-scanning machines that show images of people underneath their clothing are being installed in 10 of the nation's busiest airports in one of the biggest public uses of security devices that reveal intimate body parts. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently started using body scans on randomly chosen passengers in Los Angeles, Baltimore, Denver, Albuquerque and at New York's Kennedy airport. Airports in Dallas, Detroit, Las Vegas and Miami will be added this month. ReaganNationalAirport in Washington starts using a body scanner today. A total of 38 machines will be in use within weeks.”
I cannot help but feel a sense of loss when a civilization has declined to the point of necessity that we have. That random, innocent people are targets for murder in the name of religion and expedience, that those targets on the one hand do not feel threatened in any way by body scans, or on the other hand feel compelled to participate in light of being targets, signals an oft repeated loss of dignity and culture historically speaking, though one that we have not experienced ourselves. Surely there is no greater evidence for any biblical truth than the universal depravity of man and the downward spiral into sin and loss that attends an individual or a culture left to itself. Issues suggest themselves for further reflection.
On today’s edition of “Calling for Truth,” we’ll discuss implications related to freedom and security. Moreover, we’ll talk about man’s essential dignity and its erosion by a postmodern culture. At the same time, we must also recognize that there is a loss of dignity connected to the fall. These things among others point to our need for a Savior. Further still, there is the issue of shame connected to nakedness when inside a body scanner. Even that points to our need for Christ. We’ll talk about these issues under the heading of “Body Scanners and Human Dignity.”
