It finally happened. A Muslim woman in Manchester refused to submit to a full-body airport body scanner and was thus barred from boarding her flight. She cited her Muslim faith, which might have been expected, as to why she refused to submit to the scan. I don’t trust the Internet to react to this news with any aplomb whatsoever.
The woman, who was to fly to Pakistan, was randomly selected at the Manchester airport to be scanned. Another woman, her travel buddy, also refused to submit to the body scan, but because of medical reasons.
In the UK, passengers who refuse to submit to body scans once they’ve been selected for one are barred from boarding said flight. There’s no Plan B—you can’t say, “I don’t want to be scanned, but I’ll let you pad me down or whatever.” Scan or go home.
What are you more comfortable with, people refusing to be scanned because of religious reasons or because of health reasons?
What’s also worth mentioning is that the two women were barred from boarding a flight two weeks ago over security concerns. That probably means that they’re being “randomly selected” for scans is total bunk.
The illusion of security continues, I suppose.
