If you have flown lately, you know that the TSA has absolutely NO sense of humor. In this day and age, it wouldn’t be wise to tempt them, but some folks just don’t seem to get it. They will crack ignorant jokes, make intentionally suspicious gestures, or do other things that get them flagged. Then, when security wants to pat them down or question them, they get upset, believing their rights have been violated.
What did they expect?
Here’s a PSA for the TSA. If you are going to fly, be respectful and cognizant of the fact that the security personnel are there to protect. They are looking out for EVERYONE, and they cannot afford to be lax in their assessments. Better to be too strict than too lenient these days.
What triggered this topic? A few weeks before our flight to Seattle, I ran across an article by Richard Milner titled The Common Body Feature That May Increase Your Chances Of Getting Flagged By TSA. The article was originally published on April 1, 2025, but it was no April Fool’s joke.
On a defunct initiative called Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques (SPOT) Referral Report, some “suspicious” behavior to watch out for included “excessive yawning,” being late, avoiding eye contact, having too much eye contact, having a “strong body odor” and sweaty palms, “fidgeting” and “clock-watching,” keeping a “rigid posture,” “display[ing] arrogance,” and a whole ream of other criteria.”1 The other red-flag is having a big, bushy beard that makes you look Middle-Eastern. That means the men of Duck Dynasty probably shouldn’t fly commercial!
You and I know that the TSA is suspicious out of necessity. While waiting for our flight in the terminal, we all become a bit suspicious by the way certain individuals look or act. Suspicion can serve certain individuals and professions well. Other times, it’s just a precursor to sinful judgment and paranoia.
1 Samuel 18:6-9 records an unnecessary suspicious reaction after a battle. “And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of musick. (7) And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. (8) And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but
thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom? (9) And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.”
Ridiculous! David had done nothing wrong. Just the opposite. And the battle wasn’t a competition. There wasn’t enough time to tally your kills as the battle was raging. But Saul’s jealousy got the best of him and from that day on, he was certain David had ulterior motives. Saul became suspicious.
Curiosity is something different. At the burning bush, Moses said, “And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.” (Exodus 3:3) Contrasting Moses’ curiosity at the burning bush to Saul’s suspicion of David, Chuck Swindoll writes:
“Moses saw and then couldn’t imagine . . . Saul imagined and then couldn’t see.
—SUSPICION BURNS US—
Moses’s investigation resulted in hearing God . . . Saul’s imagination resulted in condemning David.
—SUSPICION BURNS US—
Moses turned aside because a bush kept burning . . . Saul changed within because he kept burning.
—SUSPICION BURNS US—
Curiosity and suspicion may look similar, but one leads to life and one leads to death.”2
Curiosity is a good thing. Suspicion typically is not. As I said earlier, it may be a necessary character trait for law enforcement, prison guards, and certain others but the average person doesn’t have all the other tools to substantiate and assess their suspicions.
Let’s be careful not to be unduly suspicious of one another, especially considering where it inevitably leads. Galatians 5:15-17 warns, “But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. (16) This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. (17) For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.”
1https://www.grunge.com/1819781/common-body-feature-beard-may-increase-chances-red-flag-tsa/
2https://www.insight.org/resources/daily-devotional/individual/suspicion
Images are taken from https://pixabay.com/, https://www.pexels.com/, or https://unsplash.com/images or created in Windows Copilot. According to the websites, they are Royalty Free and free to be used for our purposes.
