TSA: You Can't Get a Muslim Exemption

I was reading at various sites yesterday that Muslim activist groups were pushing the TSA for special exemptions from airport screening.  Not only did they want to avoid the naked scanners, but they also wanted to limit pat downs of women to head and neck areas only. Today the TSA chief says there won't be any religious exemptions:

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration says airline passengers will not avoid body imaging screening or pat-downs based on their religious beliefs.

TSA chief John Pistole told the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday that passengers who refuse to go through a full-body scanner machine and reject a pat-down will not be allowed to board, even if they reject the in-depth security measures for religious reasons.

"That person is not going to get on an airplane," Pistole said in response to a question from Republican Sen. John Ensign whether the TSA would provide exemptions for passengers whose religious beliefs do not allow them to go through a physically revealing body scan or be touched by screeners.

Civil rights groups contend the more intensive screening violates civil liberties including freedom of religion, the right to privacy and the constitutional protection against unreasonable searches.

That's what the TSA says today, but will they really risk a run-in with CAIR or one of the other radical Islamic groups over airport screening? We'll see.