A US Airways passenger plane was diverted to Philadelphia earlier today after religious paraphenalia worn by a Jewish passenger was mistaken for a bomb, Philadelphia police said.
According to this report, a passenger was alarmed by a ludicrous arrangements of two small black boxes affixed to the man’s arm and head by thin black straps.
The ridiculous things are called phylacteries – (tefillin in Hebrew) –  which observant Jews fix to themselves as part of morning prayers.
'And this will bring me closer to God? You're kidding me, right?'
Said officer Christine O’Brien, a spokeswoman for the Philadelphia police department:
Someone on the plane construed it as some kind of device.
No one was arrested or charged, O’Brien added.
The plane was en route from New York’s La Guardia airport to Louisville. It landed without incident and the passengers and crew were taken off the plane, a spokesman for US Airways said.
Today’s incident was the latest of several false alarms on US flights since the December 25 incident in which a Nigerian man attempted to detonate a bomb in his underpants from materials he smuggled onto the plane just as his flight was about to land in Detroit, authorities said.
Hat tip: Steve H
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
January 21st, 2010 at 9:09 pm
He should get to reimburse everyone on the plane for the inconvenience he causes. And anyone who wears a hat like that in public should be laughed off the face of the planet.
January 21st, 2010 at 10:02 pm
This is clearly part of the international Zionist conspiracy to… erm, make some Jews look like idiots. Needs a bit of work, that one.
January 21st, 2010 at 10:26 pm
How apt the “Hat tip” today.
January 21st, 2010 at 10:27 pm
Time to ban the Rosary, Misbaha, and the Japa Mala, too, on flights. Who knows what those
holybeads may contain?January 21st, 2010 at 10:43 pm
Phylacteries (“frontlets”) are traditional. They’re supposed to contain snippets of scripture. They should be inspected before a flight, for sure, but they shouldn’t cause this much grief.
January 21st, 2010 at 10:59 pm
if that wasn’t a religious “device” you can bet that moron would be in a jail cell right now. Once again religion gets a free pass. And what’s with this taping this stuff to your arm? Don’t tell me, orthodox jews aren’t allowed to have pockets?
January 22nd, 2010 at 12:28 am
Anyone wanna bet that the person who panicked was from Louisville?
January 22nd, 2010 at 4:25 am
The “moron” involved was a child.
The parents? Morons who should know better.
Still, as I noted at another forum, I really see nothing out of the ordinary at all, strapping a box to your head and reciting gibberish. This is perfectly within the scope of activities that one would expect on a commercial airline flight among the (very) general public and in any confined and tense public space.
Sitting.. reading a book.. conversing.. napping.. or attaching a box to your skull and speaking to an invisible fellow in the sky (or in the box) are reasonable activities that most of us expect and take for granted.
Why a flight crew and perhaps some passengers would want it checked out baffles me.
Why inconvenience our ego? What works for me should work for you. If not, tough. This is America. One for one and all for none. Independence to the end. I, me, mine. Live Free or Die. Etc.
Bizarre. I have more words of dismay, but they are not for publication.
January 22nd, 2010 at 8:08 am
No, he shouldn’t be “fined”: he should be compensated for the embarrassment and inconvenience caused! How on earth could any American petty official not know what phylacteries are? The guy DOES look a little bit Jewish, doesn’t he, and I’ve heard that there is even a not inconsiderable “Jewish community” over in the USA!!
January 22nd, 2010 at 9:07 am
I anticipate problems for disciples of my new sect, the Church of the Sacred Fuse.
January 22nd, 2010 at 10:59 am
This story is purpose built for remigius where is he these days?
January 22nd, 2010 at 11:47 am
There was an hilarious joke in last week’s Private Eye, for those who haven’t read it. Photo of the notorious would-be plane bomber with these speech bubbles:
“I did nothing wrong.”
“Liar! Liar! Pants on fire!”
January 22nd, 2010 at 1:31 pm
Is that prat who appears to have lost a fight with a roll of insulating tape really part of the human race?
January 22nd, 2010 at 3:36 pm
This is a basic DAHHHH! moment.
Remember the girl in boston who had an electronic gadget attached to the front of her shirt and then went to the airport with the lights flashing and everyone thought she was wired with a boom?
My first that was ‘DAH! dumb-schite should have known better.’
Now this silly story. DAH! dumb-schites should have known better but then again they do believe the sillyness. I also heard that the dud was nodding his head and praying loudly.
So lets see… funny looking dud, weird schite hanging off his body, nodding and praying loud???? ISLAMIC TERRORIST!!!!!!! obvious.
January 22nd, 2010 at 8:14 pm
This is another one for answering those who accuse atheists of being so smug in claiming that they are so much more rational and intelligent than religious folk. These people but bits of ancient writing into a box and strap it to their heads but they are just as intelligent and rational as I am?
January 23rd, 2010 at 9:17 am
“How on earth could any American petty official not know what phylacteries are?”
Easy: most people don’t personally know any Orthodox Jews and have never seen phylacteries, ever; nor have they ever heard of them. The obscure doings of ultra-fundamentalist Jewish religious sects are not common knowledge amongst the general, non-Jewish public.
Don’t assume that most people are aware of something just because you are. Ordinary people do not make a habit of learning about these sorts of things, and “petty officials” are hardly known for their worldly learning, in any country. They only know how to apply rules; asking them to understand the reasons for the rules or to know about obscure religious practices is expecting too much.
January 23rd, 2010 at 5:38 pm
I’ve never ever seen that get up before.
I’d have totally thought he was a terrorist.
I suppose now if a real terrorist brings some explosive device on a plane he can just claim it’s a device used for praying.
“We always take out the holy fuse and light it just before praying.”
“This ticking device makes me feel closer to God.”
“I always run a chainsaw when I pray.”
January 23rd, 2010 at 7:41 pm
I’m still surprised that an official operating on the Eastern Seaboard would know so little about Orthodox Jews. We’re not talking about Wyoming here!