i saw a video taken today of a 3 year old girl given the "enhanced pat-down" by the TSA. she is screaming "stop touching me!" and crying and trying to escape. the pat-down continues.
at first i was going to post the video here, but it upsets me so much. i wanted to cry. i wanted to intercede for this poor girl.
has she been abused at her daycare? by a family friend? if so, my heart breaks for her.
if not, and hopefully that is the case, then her first moments of inappropriate touching, of feeling scared and violated as a little girl in this world, took place with her parents watching, with an airport full of people watching. and who was doing it? her government.

what are we teaching our girls?

even as an adult, i am horrified by the concept of the pat-downs. i'm equally mortified and offended by the idea that we should all be willing to allow a naked picture taken.
anonymity doesn't excuse it. for my own modesty, and for the sake of my husband and my own conscience before God, i want nothing to do with either of the "options".

i try to not give in to the feelings of entitlement in Western culture. the "everything is about me" kind of mentality. But this strips the dignity right out of people's hands.

"you don't have to fly" is the argument. and trust me, i will drive as much as possible. "it's not a right, it's a priveledge." yes. that's true. but a government should exist for the people, not in lieu of the people. we're told "this is how it's going to be". i know that in so many countries, there are bigger issues, there is injustice and slavery and bigotry and out-of-control governments. i know that in many countries i could be imprisoned for life, or even killed just for writing this blog (even if no one sees it).

but how far do we let things go? right now, if you're "chosen at random" for the screening, and you refuse the screener, then refuse the pat-down, and decide to walk away and not even take your flight, you can still be fined $11,000 !!!

So much more that I want to say on this, but i feel so disgusted. this is one of those topics i feel passionate about, but i can only stomach talking/typing/conversing about it in small increments.

your thoughts?