The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated.” This is the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Do full-body scans and full-body pat downs at airports violate the Fourth Amendment?

A former assistant administrator for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) affirmed, “Nobody likes to have their Fourth Amendment [rights] violated going through a security line, but [the] truth of the matter is, we’re gonna have to do it.” And so the U.S. seems to be violating its own rule of law. Thus we are in danger of becoming a country ruled by men rather than by law.

There is a higher law to which governments and individuals, especially Christians, must bow. God’s law stipulates, “You shall not commit adultery” (Ex. 20:14). What does this commandment require? It requires “chastity in body, mind, affections, words, and behavior,” and “modesty” (Westminster Larger Catechism, 138). Among other things, the seventh commandment also forbids “immodest apparel” and “lascivious pictures” (WLC 139).

Reports are that some full-body scans reveal nakedness, depending on machine settings, etc. And, if reports are accurate, full-body pat downs involve government agents reaching into undergarments and touching private body parts. This includes improperly touching small children. You be the judge. Are these activities government-sanctioned violations of the seventh commandment?

Note the Bible’s view of nakedness. Listen to Nahum 3:5: “‘Behold, I am against you,’ declares the Lord of hosts; ‘And I will lift up your skirts over your face, and show to the nations your nakedness and to the kingdoms your disgrace.’” Nakedness is a sign of God’s judgment on Nineveh. Jeremiah speaks of Jerusalem in a similar way: “Jerusalem sinned greatly, therefore she has become an unclean thing. All who honored her despise her because they have seen her nakedness” (Lam. 1:8).

Already there are reports of images from full-body scans being leaked and posted on the internet. Think about it. If the nakedness of Americans is put on display before a watching world, is government’s inappropriate touching and the revelations of this nakedness a sign of God’s judgment against America?

What must we do? First, we must answer several questions. Do TSA requirements involve us in violations of the seventh commandment? If so, should we submit to full-body scans and full-body patdowns? Can husbands allow their wives or parents allow their children to undergo such procedures? What are the consequences? How does Acts 5:29 fit? “We must obey God rather than men.”

Implementation of God’s commandments is not always easy. It requires diligent study, both individually and corporately (2 Tim. 2:15).

Second, in this particular case, obedience to the seventh commandment also requires us to pray for our leaders and for our country, both individually and corporately. “I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity” (2 Tim. 2:1-2, emphasis added).

—Dennis J. Prutow